What is the internal structure of the aircraft carrier?

First American aircraft carrier-Langley

The United States is one of the earliest countries to develop aircraft carriers, and its attention to this revolutionary ship form is almost synchronous with that of Britain and Japan, the pioneer countries of aircraft carriers, both of which originated from the end of World War I to the early 1920s.

Compared with Britain and Japan, the first American aircraft carrier was born a little later, but the construction mode was very similar-all of them were modified from existing ships. Tracing back to the source, the origin of American aircraft carrier is linked with Jupiter, a coal carrier with a displacement of 5,500 tons, because the first American aircraft carrier Langley was converted from Jupiter. This project started in Norfolk Naval Factory in June, 19 19. Three years later, Jupiter transformed itself and appeared in active service in the US Navy under the name of Langley, thus opening the history of the US aircraft carrier.

"Langli" is CV- 1, with standard displacement increased to 1 1.500 tons and speed 15 knots. The flight deck is fully accessible, with 34 planes and no elevator. 1922165438+1October, the compressed air catapult used in the aircraft ejection and take-off test was successful.

"Langley" has been used for training since its service, and has made outstanding contributions to the US Navy's discussion of early tactics of aircraft carriers. 1936 was converted into a seaplane carrier (AV-3).

1942 On February 27th, it was sunk by a Japanese naval land attack plane while carrying a P-40 fighter plane on Guadalcanal Island.

Lang Li was shot in September. 1922. Interestingly, there is a pigeon house at the stern of its ship, which is used to raise homing pigeons and guide pilots.

Second, Lexington-class aircraft carrier

The photo was taken on February 2nd 1933 "Lexington".

1942 "Saratoga", its main gun was replaced by Mark 12 double gun 127mm gun.

After Langley, Lexington-class aircraft carriers also joined the ranks of American aircraft carriers.

Like Langley, the Lexington-class aircraft carrier was originally designed with two South Dakota-class battle cruiser, and construction started in June of 192 1. Later, influenced by the Washington naval treaty, it was changed to an aircraft carrier before completion, and was named Lexington (CV-2) and Saratoga respectively.

Lexington class was launched in June 1925, and officially put into use in February 1927. The standard displacement is 36,000 tons. With closed bow, the flight deck is 270.8 meters long. With a speed of 34 knots, it can carry 90- 120 aircraft. Compared with several aircraft carriers converted from the main hull in Britain and Japan at the same time, Lexington class has the characteristics of modern aircraft carriers and is also the strongest aircraft carrier.

Lexington 1942 was sunk by the Fifth Air Force of Japan's United Fleet in the Battle of Coral Sea on May 8. The "Saratoga" survived World War II and was used as a bikini nuclear test ship, which sank on July 25th, 1946.

Third, the first aircraft carrier specially designed for aircraft carriers in the United States-"Raider"

1944 "Raiders" in June. As can be seen from the figure, its inclined chimney has been pulled up, and the new SP radar and SC-2 radar are installed at the masthead. Due to overweight, its 127mm guns have all been dismantled.

CV-4 is the first American aircraft carrier designed as an aircraft carrier from the beginning, and its displacement is about half that of Lexington class. Due to the limitation of Washington Naval Treaty (13500 tons), 1927 was designed as 13800 tons, which was increased by 700 tons during construction. Its outstanding feature is that it is equipped with six inclined chimneys with hinges, three on each side. The inside of the chimney is connected, which can exhaust smoke from the downwind, reduce smoke and interfere with flight operations.

"Raiders" were mainly used as Atlantic air carriers, escort ships and training ships in second-line troops during World War II. Retired on June 28th, 1946,1sold for demolition on October 28th, 1947.

Fourth, the York-class aircraft carrier.

York city class is a new type of aircraft carrier starting from 1933. * * There are three ships, namely Yorktown (CV-5, 1937), Enterprise (CV-6, 1938) and Bumblebee. Compared with the previous "Raiders", the York class increased the hull and speed, while strengthening the horizontal and underwater protection. What's more, from the perspective of York city, the superstructure and chimney of the American aircraft carrier are integrated into one, thus forming the basic type of the American aircraft carrier.

York City was the mainstay of the US Navy in the early Pacific War. From the battle of midway alone, it can be asserted that they played an inestimable role in the course of World War II. Of the three ships, only the lucky Enterprise saw the end of the war, while the Yorktown 1942 sank in midway and the Hornet sank in Santa Cruz.

The story of three York-class aircraft carriers is extremely tragic and touching, because in the early days of the Pacific War, almost all of these aircraft carriers were supporting the US Navy. Because of the limited space, I won't describe those past events here, and I will add them later.

York city performance:

Standard displacement (ton): 19576

Full-load displacement (ton): 25484

Carrier (frame): 80-90

Speed (knots): 32.5

Crew (person): 2 120.

(Note: There are differences in bumblebee tonnage. )

"York city"

"enterprise"

Bumblebee

Five, Essex class aircraft carrier

Essex-class aircraft carriers occupy a very prominent position in the history of American aircraft carriers, which is why we will elaborate in detail below.

Most American war historians agree that naval aviation played an important role in the Pacific War, among which Essex-class aircraft carrier played a significant role. They injected maneuverability, endurance and attack power into the naval aviation, enabling the allied navy to seize control of the Pacific Ocean from the Japanese fleet and ensure that the allied forces approached Japan in an avalanche. Essex class is the first-class aircraft carrier with the largest number of construction in the history of the US Navy, and also the main ship with the largest number of construction of age of steam.

△ Construction background

Before the outbreak of World War II, although the United States had five aircraft carriers, at that time, battleships were still regarded as the backbone of maritime forces. The aircraft carrier is just a floating airport at sea, from which reconnaissance planes take off and land, attacking those planes whose power has not been proved. The strategy, tactics and function of carrier-based aviation are still in theoretical debate. In the shipbuilding plan of the United States, the aircraft carrier does not occupy a major position. At the beginning of World War II, some fighting activities in the Atlantic made the advocates of aircraft carriers have no sufficient reason to defend their views, because the British aircraft carriers Spirit, Glory and Royal Ark were sunk one after another.

However, with the progress of the European war and the increasing exposure of Japan's expansion ambitions, the United States deeply feels the necessity of strengthening the construction of aircraft carriers; With the strong support of President Roosevelt, the US Congress decided to build 1 1 in the fiscal year of 1940 and two Essex-class aircraft carriers in the fiscal year of 194 1. However, only five aircraft were started when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Pearl Harbor incident led to a complete change in the shipbuilding thinking of the US Navy. Overnight, the aircraft carrier replaced the battleship and became the main ship. The remaining US naval forces in the Pacific Ocean have resolutely formed a resistance force with the aircraft carrier as the core. At this time, American talents felt bitterly that the shortage of aircraft carriers and the obsolescence of carrier-based aircraft forced them to compete with the dominant Japanese fleet with inferior forces. Lexington, York City, Bumblebee, Bumblebee were sunk continuously in 1942. At one time, the US military had only one aircraft carrier in the Pacific. In this critical situation, the United States decided to speed up the construction of Essex-class aircraft carriers: 1942 10, 1943/3 and 1944/6. At the same time, in order to meet the urgent needs of the war, Roosevelt also proposed a plan to quickly transform the Cleveland class cruiser under construction into a light aircraft carrier, and vigorously rebuilt and built several escort aircraft carriers.

△ Design and construction

As early as 1937, when the York city class began to serve, the situation has shown that these aircraft carriers with standard displacement 19900 tons can no longer meet the requirements. The size, weight and performance of the new carrier aircraft being designed at that time required the navy to build a larger, more effective and better deck protection aircraft carrier. In the late 1930s, when designing Essex-class aircraft carrier, it was determined that its standard displacement was 20,000 tons. However, the US Navy has put forward a series of requirements for this class of ships, which is very difficult for designers. The most important ones include: 1, a larger flight deck to carry additional 1 carrier squadron; 2. The hull is larger, so as to store more aviation gasoline (240,000 gallons, compared with 6.5438+0.78 million gallons for York City class); 3. Increase the armor thickness: along the waterline to 10 1.6mm, and the main bulkhead to 76.2mm4 The power of the propulsion system is increased to 654.38+05,000 axle horsepower, meeting the design requirements of 30 knots speed; 5. Increase the deck area of the hangar to store more aircraft parts and engines; 6. Increase the defensive weapons on board. Obviously, these requirements can't be realized on the hull with a standard displacement of only 20,000 tons.

Essex class absorbs the advantages of previous aircraft carriers at all levels and improves the protection capability of aircraft carriers. This mainly includes: the hull was divided into more watertight compartments, which caused some heavy losses in the war, but none of them sank.

A total of 32 aircraft carriers of this class were approved, but 24 were actually built. During World War II, the 17 ship was built and put into service. They are Essex (CV-9), Yorktown (CV- 10), Brave (CV- 1 1), Bumblebee (CV- 12) and so on. Lexington (CV- 16), Bunker Hill (CV- 17), Wasp (CV- 18), Hancock (CV- 19) and bennington. Seven ships were built after the war, namely: Princeton (CV-37), Tarawa (CV-40), Chishaye (CV-33), Wright (CV-32), Philippine Sea (CV-47) and Fujitani.

The construction scale of Essex-class aircraft carrier fully reflects the huge industrial potential of the United States. At the beginning of the Pacific War, the United States decided to concentrate on mass production according to the standard design scheme of Essex-class aircraft carrier, so that shipyards could adopt assembly line operation. In addition, the steel grade and plate, ship equipment, machinery and weapons have also been highly standardized. The production of air defense weapons is almost entirely concentrated in the manufacture of127mm artillery, Bofors 40mm artillery and Eriksson 20mm artillery. In this way, the construction period of this class of aircraft carriers has been greatly shortened, and several ships have been completed and put into use in only 14- 16 months.

△ Performance and Armed Forces

The standard displacement of this class of aircraft carriers is 27,200 tons, and the full-load displacement is 34,880 tons. The captain (total length) is 265.79 meters and the flight deck is 262.5438+03 meters long; The ship is 28.35 meters wide and the flight deck is 29.26 meters wide; Average draft is 7.01m.

Propulsion device: 4 gear-driven turbines, 8 boilers, 4 shafts,10.5 million shaft horsepower, and the speed is 32.7 knots. The oil load is 6300 tons, and the endurance 15000 nautical miles/15 knots.

The ship is equipped with 12 127 mm anti-aircraft dual-purpose guns to deal with long-range targets. As for the number of anti-aircraft guns, it changed a lot during the whole war, and the ships were different, but in general, their power gradually increased. When the first Essex-class aircraft carriers were built, each was equipped with 8 40 mm Bofors guns and 32 guns. And equipped with 46 single-tube 20 mm "Eriksson" anti-aircraft guns. By the end of the war, the number of 40 mm Bovas anti-aircraft guns and 20 mm Eriksson anti-aircraft guns on Essex-class aircraft carriers had increased to 68 and 55 respectively.

△ carrier aircraft

The original aviation brigade was composed of the following squadrons: 2 fighter squadrons (36) and 1 reconnaissance bomber squadron (18); 1 dive bomber squadron (18), 1 torpedo fighter squadron (18), 1 pseudo dive bomber for liaison mission, * * * 9 1 frame; There are also 9 spare planes (3 fighter planes, 3 dive bombers and 3 torpedo planes). With the development and wide application of radar, the demand for reconnaissance planes is decreasing day by day, so at 1944, reconnaissance bomber squadron and dive bomber squadron merged, with a total of 24 dive bombers. The original 12 reconnaissance bomber was replaced by a fighter, and the total number was still 9 1. By the summer of 1945, the aviation brigade of a typical Essex-class aircraft carrier included: 1 fighter squadron (36-37), 1 fighter bomber squadron (36-37), 1 dive bomber squadron (15) and

Not only was it the main force of the US Navy in the late World War II, but in the long post-war Cold War era, the Essex-class aircraft carrier also showed tenacious vitality, and it was found in wars such as the Cuban crisis, the Vietnam War in ten years, and the invasion of Panama. It was not until 19 1 that the last Essex-class aircraft carrier Lexington (CV- 16) retired from active service that the Essex-class era came to an end.

The picture shows the Essex-class 10 ship "Wasp", which was shot in the late World War II. At this time, it also adopted a straight-through flight deck, which completely showed the original appearance of the ship.

The picture shows the seventh Essex-class ship Randolph (CV- 15) after the war. After the war, most Essex-class aircraft carriers undertook the task of anti-submarine aircraft carriers, and modernized them in batches, changing the straight flight deck into an inclined flight deck. The picture shows the composition of American anti-submarine forces in 1950s: the aircraft carrier is in the center, submarines and Fletcher-class destroyers are in the front and on both sides, and there are anti-submarine aircraft in the air.

Six, light aircraft carriers and escort aircraft carriers

As mentioned earlier, after the Pearl Harbor incident, President Roosevelt of the United States put forward a plan to quickly transform the Cleveland class cruiser under construction into a light aircraft carrier and build several escort aircraft carriers at the same time, which gave birth to several types of aircraft carriers that we will talk about below.

▲ light aircraft carrier

1. Independent level

When the US Navy was busy building Essex-class aircraft carriers, the Pacific War broke out, and the United States urgently needed to invest new aircraft carrier forces to deal with the powerful Japanese joint fleet. So I decided to take out nine Cleveland-class light cruisers under construction and convert them into independent light aircraft carriers. All the ships of this class were commissioned at 1943, and then joined Essex class to cross the Pacific battlefield. Except for the No.2 ship "Princeton", which was sunk in the naval battle in the Philippines on June 24th, 1944, all other ships were safe and sound. After the war, because the independent class did not meet the requirements for carrying jets, all but three (two were leased to the French navy and 1 sold to the Spanish navy) were retired and dismantled before 1963.

These nine ships are: Independence (CVL-22, 195 1), Princeton (CVL-23, 1944), Bellowood (CVL-24, 1944) and Lang.

Independent standard displacement 1 1000 tons, captain 189.9 meters, speed of 32 knots, and 45 aircraft carriers.

2. Saipan level

Saipan, modified from a Baltimore class heavy cruiser, failed to catch up with the war. * * * There are two: Saipan (CVL-48) was built in 1946 and retired in1975; Wright (CVL-49) was built in 1947 and retired in 1977.

Its shape resembles an independent stage, but the displacement is slightly larger. It was used as an aircraft carrier for a period of time and then as a command ship.

▲ escort aircraft carrier

Unlike the light aircraft carrier modified from a combat ship, the escort aircraft carrier is modified from a merchant ship, so it belongs to a smaller aircraft carrier and is used to escort merchant ships. They are usually deployed in front of the transport fleet, using carrier-based aircraft to detect and attack submarines, or guiding surface ships to carry out attacks. In addition to escorting, escort aircraft carriers often assume the role of transport ships.

During World War II, the United States built 124 escort carriers with its strong industrial strength, of which 38 were provided to the Royal Navy. The code name of the escort carrier was originally AVG, later changed to ACV, and soon changed to AVE.

1. Long Island (AVG- 1)

Because it is a simple modification of a merchant ship, the "Long Island" and all escort carriers have one thing in common: simplicity and simplicity.

The first escort aircraft carrier of the US Navy. 194 1 was converted from the cargo ship "Mo McMurr" and retired in 1946.

The standard displacement is 7886 tons, the total length is 150m, the width is 2 1.2m (waterline), the maximum displacement is 3 1. 1m, the horsepower is 8500, and the speed is 16 knots. Equipment 1 single barrel gun 127mm, two 20mm single barrel guns and several 76mm single barrel guns. Aircraft 2 1 with 970 crew members.

2. Shooter level

194 1 year, the United States began to implement the ship-building plan for Britain according to the lease law, and converted the C3 standard cargo ship into five archer-class escort carriers: Sagittarius, Deceiver, Charger, Collider and Avenger. Except the Ma Jun, which was left by the US Navy as a training ship, the other four ships were handed over to Britain in March 1942.

Archer-class standard displacement is 8200 tons, with a total length of 150m, a width of 20.2m, 8500 horsepower and a speed of 16.5 knots. Equipped with 1 127mm gun and two 76mm guns,10165438.

Avenger and attacker sank in 1942 and 1943 respectively, while Sagittarius and deceiver were sent back to the United States after the war.

3. Borg/Prince William level

Like the shooter class, it is also a escort carrier modified from a C3 standard cargo ship. However, compared with Sagittarius, its main engine is changed to steam turbine, the flight deck is widened, the hangar space is expanded, and the number of elevators is increased to two. Originally planned to rebuild 24 ships, only 20 ships were actually rebuilt, and the remaining four ships were used for Sangamon class. According to the same plan, more than 20 ships were directly built, both of which are collectively called Borg/Prince William class. The United States left 1 1 among them, and the rest were transferred to Britain.

4. Ruler level

From May 1943 to February 1944, the last batch of escort carriers leased by the British Royal Navy originally belonged to the US Navy Prince William, with 26 ships, similar in size and archer class, but improved in equipment. Due to the late completion time, in addition to escorting the fleet, it also served as the task of supporting landing operations and assisting aircraft carriers.

In view of the saturation of American shipbuilding capacity, this class 14 was rebuilt by Canadian shipyard.

5. Sangamon level

1942 the escort carrier was transformed from an oil tanker. At that time, the hull of C3 cargo ship was insufficient, and the development of war was in urgent need of escort aircraft carrier. Considering the large hull and high speed of the oil tankers built according to the 1936 merchant ship construction plan, four of them were transformed into Sangamon class. After the Sangamon class was completed, it participated in the allied landing operations in North Africa, thus creating a precedent for the use of escort aircraft carriers as fleet aircraft carriers.

6. Casablanca class

The United States has the largest number of aircraft carriers, with 50. What's even more amazing is that they were born within one year, which makes people marvel at the industrial strength of the United States. During the war, "Casablanca" class was used as both an escort aircraft carrier and sometimes a transport ship. Five of them sank in the war, and most of them saw the day of victory.

7. Comensmann Bay Class

The first-class escort carrier built according to the tanker hull is very similar to the Sangamon class in main size and shape, and the chimneys are arranged on both sides behind the middle, so the superstructure of the ship island is quite simple. The first ship was registered in194365438+1October 23rd, and entered service in194465438+1October. It was originally planned to build 35 ships. After World War II, the 16 ship was cancelled, and the 19 ship was finally completed.

Seven, midway class aircraft carrier

1953165438+1the "midway island" filmed in October. At this time, its flight deck layout is basically the same as that of Essex.

Midway-class aircraft carrier is a first-class large aircraft carrier built by the US Navy to increase the number of aircraft carriers during World War II. Registered in August 1942. The first two ships "midway" and "Franklin? d？ Roosevelt was built in 1945, and the third coral sea was built in 1947.

The midway class aircraft carrier failed to catch up with the war, and the Second World War ended. However, in the following years, it participated in the Korean War, the Middle East crisis and the Gulf War as the main force. "Midway Island" has been in service until August 199 1, and it is one of the longest-serving aircraft carriers in the history of the US Navy.

This class ship has a standard displacement of 45,000 tons, a total length of 295.2 meters, a width of 34.5 meters (waterline), a speed of 33 knots, an aircraft carrier of 80- 145, and a crew of 4 140.

1974, the elevator of Midway, which was modernized for the second time, was moved to the front and rear of the ship island and the port stern, and changed into an inclined flight deck.

Eight, the United States built a first-class aircraft carrier after the war-forest class.

Four Forrest-class aircraft carriers, commissioned in the 1950s, are first-class aircraft carriers built by the United States after the war, which are specially used to equip new jet fighters.

This class uses steam catapults for the first time, and the flight deck absorbs the design experience of British aircraft carriers. The traditional straight-through flight deck was changed into a diagonal straight-through hybrid flight deck, so that the whole flight deck formed three areas of take-off, standby and landing, which could carry out take-off and landing operations at the same time, thus forming the basic mode of American air carrier today.

The four ships are forest (CVA-59, 1955), Saratoga (CVA-60, 1956) and Raider (CVA-6 1 65438+).

1992 forest was converted into a training aircraft carrier, 1993 raiders were retired, 1994 Saratoga was retired in August, and 1988 Independence completed its 34-month extension of service, costing 800 million dollars. 1998, "independence" retired, and Forrest class became history.

The US Navy originally planned to build eight Forrest-class aircraft carriers, but later, due to some design improvements, four aircraft carriers were listed as Kitty Hawk.

Forrest Gump

"Saratoga"

Raider

"independence"

Nine, Kitty Hawk class aircraft carrier

There are four Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carriers, namely Kitty Hawk (CV63), Constellation (CV64), America (CV66) and Kennedy (CV67), all of which were commissioned in the 1960s. They are the last and largest conventional aircraft carrier built by the United States after forest.

In terms of hull structure, it is smaller than the Forrest-class ship island and closer to the stern. The overall structure of the whole ship is more reasonable and the hangar area is increased. The position of elevators was changed from the first two to the rear 1, and the port front 1 was changed to the rear 1, which greatly improved the flight operation of the ship surface. This layout was adopted as the standard design of all aircraft carriers in the future.

At present, only the Kitty Hawk is still in service in the US Navy. The other three American ships were retired in August 1996, Constellation was retired on August 7, 2003, and Kennedy was used as a training ship.

X enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States

Enterprise (CVN65) is the first nuclear-powered multi-purpose aircraft carrier of the US Navy. From 1958 to 1960, the construction cost was 450 million dollars. 196 1 year 1 1 month joined the Atlantic fleet, 1965 to 1990 deployed in the Pacific fleet, 1990 to 1994 after four years. The standard displacement is 73,570 tons, the full-load displacement is 93,970 tons, the length is 342.5, the flight deck is 76.88 meters wide, and there are about 90 aircraft carriers. Eight A2w nuclear reactors provide steam for four gear-driven steam turbines at a speed of 33 knots. Replacing nuclear fuel once can sail continuously for 200 thousand nautical miles. 1964 August to 10/0 October, the aircraft carrier Enterprise, under the escort of nuclear-powered missile cruisers Long Beach and bainbridge, formed the world's first all-nuclear-powered special mixed fleet, and made an unprecedented round-the-world voyage, which lasted 64 days without refueling or replenishment, with a total voyage of 32,600 nautical miles, fully demonstrating nuclear power. The ship has participated in the maritime blockade against Cuba, the Vietnam War and the Kosovo War, and replaced nuclear fuel four times. Now it belongs to the Atlantic Fleet and is equipped with the 3rd carrier-based aviation wing and 78 carrier-based aircraft.

As the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the world, its design and construction have an important impact on the second-generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of Nimitz class in the United States.

Eleven, Nimitz class aircraft carrier

Nimitz class is the aircraft carrier with the largest displacement, the largest number of aircraft carriers and the highest degree of modernization in the world. It is also the second generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States after the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier enterprise.

The first ship "Nimitz" was commissioned in 1975. The hull and deck of this class of ships are made of high-strength steel, which can resist the attack of semi-armor-piercing projectiles. The ammunition depot and engine room are equipped with Kevlar armor with a thickness of 63.5 mm, and there are 23 watertight transverse bulkheads and 10 fire-proof partitions in the ship, which have complete protective measures such as fire fighting, pipeline damage and impact resistance. It can withstand three times the impact of Essex-class aircraft carriers. It can carry out ocean-going operations to seize air and sea control, attack enemy targets at sea or on land, and support landing operations and anti-submarine.

At present, there are 9 ships in active service and under construction 1 ship, which is the backbone of the US Navy's active aircraft carrier.

These nine ships are: the Nimitz (CVN68) and Dwight? d？ Eisenhower "(CVN69)," Karl? Vinson (CVN70), "Theodore? Roosevelt "(CVN7 1)," Abraham? Lincoln (CVN72), "George? Washington (CVN73), "John? c？ Stannis (CVN74), "Harry? s？ Truman (CVN75), "Ronald? Reagan (CVN76).

In addition, the construction of the 10 ship "Bush" (CVN77) began as early as 200 1 year. At present, some bows have been assembled, and the overall project has been completed about 30%. It will be the last Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the US Navy, worth nearly $4 billion. It is expected to be completed in 2006 and join the US Navy in 2008! !