page_title: Timeline for aircraft carrier service
section_title: Between the wars
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline for aircraft carrier service / Between the wars
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Langley (CV-1) underway off San Diego, California (USA), in 1928, with Vought VE-7 aircraft on her flight deck. The destroyer USS Somers (DD-301) is in the background.
context_page_description: Aircraft carriers have their origins during the days of World War I. The earliest experiments consisted of fitting temporary "flying off" platforms to the gun turrets of the warships of several nations, notably the United States and the United Kingdom. The first ship to be modified with a permanent flight deck was the battlecruiser HMS Furious, which initially had a single flying-off deck forward of the original superstructure. Subsequently, she was modified with a separate "landing on" deck aft and later with a full flush deck. Other ships, often liners, were modified to have full flush flight decks, HMS Argus being the first to have such modification begun. Those first faltering steps gave little indication of just how important the aircraft carrier was to prove to be. During the inter-war years, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States built up significant carrier fleets so that by the beginning of World War II, they had 18 carriers between them. The 1940 Battle of Taranto and 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor in retrospect showed the world that the aircraft carrier was to be the most important ship in the modern fleet.
context_section_description: 1919
  11 July – USS Jupiter authorised to be converted to a carrier.
  11 September – HMS Hermes launched.
  16 December – Hōshō laid down, possibly as the tanker Hiryu.
  1920
  24 March – USS Jupiter decommissioned for conversion to a carrier.
  21 April – USS Jupiter renamed USS Langley.
  1 November – U.S. Navy sinks USS Indiana during an exercise testing aerial bombardment.
  6 December – Akagi laid down as battlecruiser.
  1921
  13 November – Hōshō launched.
  1922
  6 February – Washington Naval Treaty limiting naval forces signed.
  HMS Furious flush-deck conversion begun.
  Spanish seaplane carrier Dédalo is commissioned in the Spanish Navy.
  20 March – USS Langley commissioned.
  1 July – Battlecruisers USS Lexington and USS Saratoga reclassified to be completed as carriers.
  27 December – Hōshō commissioned.
  1923
  July – HMS Hermes commissioned
  August – Conversion of the French Normandie-class battleship Béarn to an aircraft carrier started.
  Kaga and Akagi conversions from battlecruiser to aircraft carrier begun.
  1924
  26 February – HMS Eagle commissioned.
  June – Light cruiser HMS Courageous carrier conversion started.
  1925
  Light cruiser HMS Glorious carrier conversion started.
  7 April – USS Saratoga launched.
  22 April – Akagi launched.
  1 July – First night deck landing made by F/Lt Boyce flying a Blackburn Dart onto HMS Furious
  September – HMS Furious re-enters service with flush flight deck.
  3 October – USS Lexington launched.
  1926
  6 May – First night deck landing, aboard HMS Furious.
  1927
  25 March – Akagi commissioned
  May – Béarn commissioned.
  16 November – USS Saratoga commissioned.
  14 December – USS Lexington commissioned.
  1928
  5 May – HMS Courageous commissioned as a carrier; first carrier to be fitted with transverse arrestor gear (friction-based).
  31 March – Kaga commissioned.
  1929
  26 November – Ryūjō laid down.
  1930
  10 March – HMS Glorious recommissioned as an aircraft carrier.
  March – HMS Argus placed in reserve.
  1931
  2 January – First carrier fitted with hydraulic arresting gear, HMS Courageous.
  2 April – Ryūjō launched.
  26 September – USS Ranger laid down.
  1933
  25 February – USS Ranger launched.
  9 May – Ryūjō commissioned.
  1934
  21 May – USS Yorktown laid down.
  4 June – USS Ranger commissioned.
  16 July – USS Enterprise laid down.
  20 November – Sōryū laid down.
  1935
  9 September – First landing of a rotary winged aircraft aboard a carrier – a Cierva autogyro onto HMS Furious
  16 September – HMS Ark Royal laid down.
  21 December – Sōryū launched.
  1936
  15 January – Japan exits the Washington Naval Treaty.
  1 April – USS Wasp laid down.
  4 April – USS Yorktown launched.
  8 July – Hiryū laid down.
  3 October – USS Enterprise launched.
  25 October – USS Langley taken in hand for conversion to a seaplane tender.
  28 December – Flugzeugträger A (Graf Zeppelin) laid down.
  1937
  29 January – Sōryū commissioned.
  26 February – USS Langley recommissioned as a seaplane tender.
  13 April – HMS Ark Royal launched.
  27 April – HMS Illustrious laid down.
  4 May – HMS Victorious laid down.
  17 June – HMS Formidable laid down.
  30 September – USS Yorktown commissioned.
  10 November – HMS Indomitable laid down.
  16 November – Hiryū launched.
  12 December – Shōkaku laid down.
  1938
  Takasaki carrier conversion started.
  Flugzeugträger B laid down.
  12 May – USS Enterprise commissioned.
  25 May – Zuikaku laid down.
  8 December – Graf Zeppelin launched.
  16 December – HMS Ark Royal commissioned; first carrier with deck armour.
  1939
  21 February – HMS Implacable laid down.
  4 April – USS Wasp launched.
  5 April – HMS Illustrious launched.
  1 June – Shōkaku launched.
  26 June – HMS Unicorn laid down.
  5 July – Hiryū commissioned.
  17 August – HMS Formidable launched.
caption: USS Langley
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