List of aircraft carriers

Thislist of aircraft carrierscontainsaircraft carrierslisted 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 (italicized) or designation (non-italicized), regardless of whether they were or were not ordered, laid down, completed, or commissioned.
Not included in this list are the following:
"In commission" denotes the period that the ship was officially in commission with the given name for the given country as an aircraft carrier as defined above.
Retired:
Retired:
Retired:
Retired:
Active:
Fitting-out & Seatrials
Under construction & Planned:
Active:
Planned:
Retired:
Never completed:
Never completed:
The two planned Italian carriersAquilaandSparvierowere seized by the Germans after the Italian Armistice but not completed.
Active:
Planned:
Retired:
Active:
Retired:
Never completed:
Active:
Retired:
Sunk:
Hōshō,Jun'yō,Katsuragi, andRyūhōsurvived the war. These were scrapped by 1948.
Never completed:
Retired:
The Russian Navy was reestablished in December 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR), most Soviet aircraft carriers were transferred over to Russia (with the exception ofVaryagwhich was transferred to Ukraine.Ulyanovskwas scrapped before the Soviet Union was dissolved).
Inactive:
Planned:
Retired:
Never completed:
Active:
Retired:
Never completed:
Role changed:
Active:
Active:
Retired:
Sunk:
Never completed:
TheUnited States Navyis ablue-water navythat is the world's largest navy by tonnage and has the world's largest fleet ofnuclear poweredaircraft carriers. The carrier fleet currently comprises the (CATOBAR)Nimitz-classand (CATOBAR/EMALS)Gerald R. Ford-classsupercarriers. These carriers serve as the centerpieces andflagshipsfor the Navy'sCarrier Strike Groups, with their embarkedcarrier air wingsand accompanying ships and submarines, which strongly contribute to the US ability toproject forcearound the globe. The following is a complete list of all the US Navy's carriers and classes to date, and their status:
Active
Under construction
Planned
Reserve
Retired (preserved as museum ships)
Retired (other)
Retired (scrapped)
Sunk(† scuttled)
Cancelled before completion
Escort aircraft carrier
The United States Navy also had a sizable fleet ofescort aircraft carriersduringWorld War IIand 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 withnaval task forcesand would typically be assigned to amphibious operations, often seen in thePacific War'sisland hopping campaign, or toconvoy protectionin thewar in the Atlantic. To that end, many of these ships were transferred to the Royal Navy as part of theUS-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;
Amphibious assault ship
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 areSTOVL-capable and can carry full squadrons of fixed-wing aircraft, such as theV/STOLAV-8B Harrier IIand the STOVLF-35 Lightning II, along with numerous rotary-wing aircraft. Their primary purpose though, is usually to serve as the centerpiece andflagshipfor anExpeditionary Strike GrouporAmphibious Ready Group, carryingUS Marine CorpsExpeditionary Unitsand their equipment close to shore for amphibious landings and departures. The following are ships and classes of US Navy amphibious assault ships;
Active
Under construction
Planned
Retired