Aircraft Carrier

**Aircraft Carrier** is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft.

## Overview

On Earth, after the invention of the airplane, mankind began experimenting with the idea of launching aircraft from the sea. Instead of just adapting the aircraft for the sea, such as adding pontoons or redesigning the plane's hull, the idea of a floating airstrip came about. The first true carriers appeared during World War One, but was not fully realized until World War Two. The aircraft carrier proved its worth as a weapon of war during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. As a result, the battleship was no longer the primary weapon at sea.

Due to the limits of the aircraft's' range, a mobile airstrip where they can be refueled and re-armed became the logical choice. Not only could the carrier extend the range of the aircraft, but it can also extend the range of reconnaissance and the ability to strike from Beyond Visual Range. The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first carrier vs carrier duel where each side never saw the other.

## Basic Design

Carriers are large and long ships, although there is a high degree of variation depending on their intended role and aircraft complement. The size of the carrier has varied over history and among navies, to cater to the various roles that global climates have demanded from naval aviation.

Regardless of size, the ship itself must house their complement of aircraft, with space for launching, storing, and maintaining them. Space is also required for the large crew, supplies (food, munitions, fuel, engineering parts), and propulsion. US aircraft carriers are notable for having nuclear reactors powering their systems and propulsion. This makes the carrier reasonably tall.

The top of the carrier is the flight deck, where aircraft are launched and recovered. On the starboard side of this is the island, where the funnel, air-traffic control and the bridge are located. As for defense, carriers were normally equipped with small naval guns and batteries of anti-aircraft guns. However, those would be used as a last line of defense if enemy planes managed to get past the defensive screen of the destroyers and cruisers. Modern carriers now have superior point-defense weapons, such as anti-missile launchers and the Phalanx CIWS.

As for the shape of the flight deck, it can vary, depending on how aircraft are launched and recovered. In World War One and Two, it was simply one long deck for launching and recovering aircraft. The ship normally 'turned into the wind' and allowed the aircraft to fly out at full throttle in order to achieve enough airspeed to lift off. If they didn't get enough airspeed, they would crash into the water. On landing, the planes would come in at a shallow angle of approach and use their tail hooks to catch arresting wires to suddenly stop on the deck. In basic terms, this is known as a 'controlled crash.'

With jet aircraft and their higher airspeeds, most modern carriers have adopted the angled-flight deck, steam catapults and the electromagnetic catapults. The straight part of the deck launches its planes using its afterburners and the steam catapult to send the aircraft at a speed of over 200 knots. The angled part of the deck is used for landing, normally with tail hooks and arresting cables.

Another deck design is the ski-jump, in which the front of the deck is sloped upwards. In addition to turning into the wind, the jet is launched with full afterburners. By the time it reaches the end of the runway, it has attained enough airspeed to maintain flight. The advantage is that no catapults are required. The disadvantage is that it cannot launch payloads that are too heavy without the use of a catapult. Furthermore, the angled slope does create a blind spot in front of the ship.

## Aircraft Carriers in the New World

### Third Civilization Area and Outside the Civilized Areas

Surprisingly, these nations of medieval-level technology do possess aircraft carriers. However, the aircraft that they launch are Wyvern and their mutated forms, the Wyvern Lord and the Wyvern Overlord. These are the Dragon Carriers, and they are basically nothing more than a large, wooden ships with sails, and a flat deck. In terms of point-defense weapons, there are virtually none. Nations such as the Parpaldia Empire and the Riem Kingdom made use of these ships. They prove to be nothing more than target practice for the JASDF.

### Second Civilization Area and the Gra Valkas Empire

Some nations such as Leifor and the Nigrat Union still use the Dragon Carrier. However, for more advanced nations such as Mu and the Gra Valkas Empire, they have embraced the more modern carrier designs of World War One and Two respectively. For Mu, their Marin fighters are quite capable of taking off under their own power, since their double wings give better lift. For the Gra Valkas Empire, their planes such as the Antares Fighter, must follow the basic takeoff and landing procedures of World War Two. There are no steam catapults, so planes must achieve enough airspeed on their own to take off. Landing is done via tail hooks and arrestor cables.

### First Civilization Area

The carriers of the Holy Milishial Empire has taken on a unique design. There are two complete airstrips, one for landing and one for launching aircraft. The dual-catamaran design of the Rodeus-Class Aircraft Carrier does allow for simultaneous launches and recoveries, but it also increases target area for the enemy to shoot at. Furthermore, it is harder to maneuver such a large ship during an emergency. There are no catapults or arrestor cables, so therefore planes like the Alpha-3 Fighter must take off and land at full speed. Hence the reason for the longer airstrips.

### Japan

Although Japan is one of the pioneers of aircraft carries on Earth (Japan is the first nation to build a purposely-built aircraft carrier (IJN Hosho)), they lost their fixed-winged naval aviation capabilities after their defeat in WW2. Since then, the only types of aircraft carrier that Japan possessed during its transfer to the New World was the *Izumo*-class Destroyer and the *Hyūga*-class Destroyers. These provide takeoff and landing bases for helicopters. Since they are able to land and launch vertically, there is no need for a longer airstrip. However, given the opportunity from its transfer to the New World seeing the need in the near future and to properly project its power and protect her allies effectively, Japan plans to build at least four aircraft carriers for their future fighters and other aircrafts.