What was the world's first aircraft carrier?

TabbyTom

The first naval vessel to be equipped with a (temporary) flight deck was the US light cruiser Birmingham, from which Eugene Ely took off in a 50 hp Curtiss pusher biplane at 3.16 pm on November 14, 1910. He landed at Willoughby Spit, near Norfolk, VA. The first landing on the deck of a ship was by Ely on January 18, 1911, when he touched down on a 120-ft long platform erected on the armoured cruiser Pennsylvania. The first warship to be built as an aircraft carrier was HMS Ark Royal, a 366-ft long vessel of 7,020 tons displacement, launched at Blyth in Northumberland in September 1914 and commissioned in December of that year. (Copied, with omissions, from "The New Shell Book of Firsts"). Jun 22 05, 12:20 PM

barker111

Thanks for the research TabbyTom, but you somehow missed the very first one. Jun 22 05, 1:14 PM

barker111

The very first aircraft carrier was the George Washington Parker Custis Class Balloon Carrier owned by the US military in 1861. Jun 23 05, 6:14 AM

simeon10

Tricky question here...Everything depends on the definition of "aircraft carrier." Some were conversions such as the U.S.S. Langley (CV-1) which was converted from a collier and was launched in 1922. Some were only seaplane tenders. If you include lighter than air devices such as balloons, you can go back to the American Civil War. Eugene Ely did launch from the converted U.S.S. Birmingham in 1910 and some call that the first aircraft carrier. Research reveals that the very first carrier to be designed from the keel up to be used as a carrier for heavier than air planes was the Japanese ship named "Hosho." She was launched in 1921 and after sea trials was redesigned to remove the "island," resulting in a completely flat deck for operations. Three main exhaust funnels alongside were built to fold down during operations also. The Hosho was used during World War II. An interesting note on the Hosho. In 1921 two old Japanese cruisers. the "Izumo" and the "Yagumo" were making a goodwill tour of the United States. At that time there was a five nation disarmament commission taking place and Japan was very careful to conceal the existence of the new carrier and two new battleships which had been completed in 1920 and 1921. So the history of the "Hosho" was kind of sketchy until after WWII. Captain Tameichi Hara of the Imperial Japanese Navy, a destroyer captain who survived the war wrote a very comprehensive history of his wartime experience and in it he also claims that the world's first aircraft carrier was the Japanese "Hosho." This is a subject worthy of debate. Any questions or comments please feel free to contact me at wlong15@cox.net ...Walt Long, Poquoson, Virginia, U.S.A. Dec 27 08, 8:36 PM

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