List of aircraft carriers
This list of aircraft carriers contains aircraft carriers listed alphabetically by name. An aircraft carrier is a warship with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft, that serves as a seagoing airbase.
Included in this list are ships which meet the above definition and had an official name or designation, regardless of whether they were or were not ordered, laid down, completed, or commissioned.
Not included in this list are the following:
- Aircraft cruisers, also known as aviation cruisers, cruiser-carriers, flight deck cruisers, and hybrid battleship-carriers, which combine the characteristics of aircraft carriers and surface warfare ships, because they primarily operated helicopters or floatplanes and did not act as a floating airbase. Examples include the British s, Japanese s, French cruiser, Soviet s, and Italian s. Vessels which meet the criteria of an aircraft carrier but are named as cruisers for political or treaty reasons such as the Russian s or British s are included however.
- Amphibious assault ships, also known as commando carriers, assault carriers, helicopter carriers, landing helicopter assault ships, landing helicopter docks, landing platform docks, and landing platform helicopters. Although they have flight decks and look like aircraft carriers, they primarily operate helicopters and do not act as a floating airbase. Examples include the US Wasp-class assault ships, Brazilian NAM Atlântico (A140), and French.
- Landing craft carriers, such as Japanese and, which were modified amphibious landing ships, with limited aircraft carrier capabilities.
- Drone carriers
- Catapult aircraft merchantmen, merchant ships which carried cargo and an aircraft catapult.
- Escort carriers, usually converted merchant ships, see separate List of escort carriers by country.
- Merchant aircraft carriers, cargo-carrying merchant ships with a full flight deck.
- Seaplane tenders and seaplane carriers, because they could not land aircraft.
- Submarine aircraft carriers, because they had no flight deck and could not land their aircraft.
Numbers of aircraft carriers by country
The table below does not include submarine aircraft carriers, seaplane tenders, escort carriers, merchant aircraft carriers, helicopter carriers, or amphibious assault ships. It includes ships under construction, but not ships that never got past the planning stage.| Country | In service | Inactive | Decommissioned | Under construction | Never completed | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 List of countries that have operated aircraft carriersArgentinaRetired:
AustraliaRetired:
BrazilRetired:
CanadaRetired:
ChinaActive:
Under construction:
France
Planned:
Never completed:
GermanyNever completed:
India
Planned:
ItalyActive:
Never completed:
Japan
Sunk:
Never completed:
Russia (and USSR)The Russian Navy was reestablished in December 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, most Soviet aircraft carriers were transferred over to Russia.Inactive:
SpainActive:
Retired:
Never completed:
ThailandRole changed:
TurkeyActive:
Under construction: United KingdomActive:
United StatesThe United States Navy is a blue-water navy that is the world's largest navy by tonnage and has the world's largest fleet of nuclear powered aircraft carriers. The carrier fleet currently comprises the and supercarriers. These carriers serve as the centerpieces and flagships for the Navy's Carrier Strike Groups, with their embarked carrier air wings and accompanying ships and submarines, which strongly contribute to the US ability to project force around the globe. The following is a complete list of all the US Navy's carriers and classes to date, and their status:Active
Retired
The United States Navy also had a sizable fleet of escort aircraft carriers during World War II and the era that followed. These ships were both quicker and cheaper to build than larger fleet carriers and were built in great numbers to serve as a stop-gap measure when fleet carriers were too few. However, they were usually too slow to keep up with naval task forces and would typically be assigned to amphibious operations, often seen in the Pacific War's island hopping campaign, or to convoy protection in the war in the Atlantic. To that end, many of these ships were transferred to the Royal Navy as part of the US-UK lend-lease program. While some of these ships were kept for a time in reserve after the war, none survive today, as they have all since been sunk or retired and scrapped. The following are the classes and stand-alone ships of the US Navy's escort carriers;
The United States Navy also has several full-deck, amphibious assault ships, which are larger than many of the aircraft carriers of other navies today. These ships are STOVL-capable and can carry full squadrons of fixed-wing aircraft, such as the V/STOL AV-8B Harrier II and the STOVL F-35 Lightning II, along with numerous rotary-wing aircraft. Their primary purpose though, is usually to serve as the centerpiece and flagship for an Expeditionary Strike Group or Amphibious Ready Group, carrying US Marine Corps Expeditionary Units and their equipment close to shore for amphibious landings and departures. The following are ships and classes of US Navy amphibious assault ships; Active
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