page_title: History of the aircraft carrier
section_title: Light aircraft carriers
hierarchical_section_title: History of the aircraft carrier / Important innovations just before and during World War II / Light aircraft carriers
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) landing planes on 6 June 1935.
context_page_description: Aircraft carriers are warships that evolved from balloon-carrying wooden vessels into nuclear-powered vessels carrying scores of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Since their introduction they have allowed naval forces to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations.
  Balloon carriers were the first ships to deploy manned aircraft, used during the 19th and early 20th century, mainly for observation purposes. The advent of fixed-wing aircraft in 1903 was followed in 1910 by the first flight from the deck of a US Navy cruiser. Seaplanes and seaplane tender support ships, such as HMS Engadine, followed. The development of flat top vessels produced the first large fleet ships. This evolution was well underway by the early to mid-1920s, resulting in the commissioning of ships such as Hōshō, HMS Hermes, Béarn, and the Lexington-class aircraft carriers.
  Most early aircraft carriers were conversions of ships that were laid down as different ship types: cargo ships, cruisers, battlecruisers, or battleships. During the 1920s, several navies started ordering and building aircraft carriers that were specifically designed as such.
context_section_description: Prior to the beginning of the war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt noticed that no new aircraft carriers were expected to enter the fleet before 1944, and proposed the conversion of several Cleveland-class cruiser hulls that had already been laid down. They were intended to serve as additional fast carriers, as escort carriers did not have the requisite speed to keep up with the fleet carriers and their escorts. The actual U.S. Navy classification was small aircraft carrier (CVL), not light. Prior to July 1943, they were just classified as aircraft carriers (CV).
  The Royal Navy made a similar design which served both Britain and the Commonwealth countries after World War II. One of these carriers, HMS Hermes (1959), was in use as India's INS Viraat, until it was decommissioned in 2017.
caption: USS Saratoga c. 1935
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