List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy

Ships of the United States Navy
A–B C D–F G–H I–K L M N–O P Q–R S T–V W–Z
Aircraft carriers Airships Amphibious warfare ships Auxiliaries Battlecruisers Battleships Cruisers Destroyers Destroyer escorts Escort carriers Frigates Mine warfare vessels Monitors Patrol vessels Sailing frigates Steam frigates Steam gunboats Ships of the line Sloops of war Submarines Torpedo boats

Aircraft carriers are warships that act as airbases for carrier-based aircraft. In the United States Navy, these consist of ships commissioned with hull classification symbols CV (aircraft carrier), CVA (attack aircraft carrier), CVB (large aircraft carrier), CVL (light aircraft carrier), CVN (aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion)) and CVAN (attack aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion)). Ships commissioned with hull classification symbols CVA-58 or higher are additionally classified as supercarriers. The United States Navy has also used escort aircraft carriers and airship aircraft carriers. This list does not include various amphibious warfare ships which can operate as carriers.

The first aircraft carrier commissioned into the United States Navy was USS Langley (CV-1) on 20 March 1922. The Langley was a converted Proteus-class collier (originally commissioned as USS Jupiter (AC-3),^[1] Langley was soon followed by the Lexington-class, USS Ranger (the first purpose-built carriers in the American fleet), the Yorktown-class, and USS Wasp.^[2] These classes made up the entirety of the United States carrier fleet active prior to and during the Second World War.^[3]

With World War II looming, two more classes of carriers were commissioned under President Franklin Roosevelt, the Essex-class and the Independence-class.^[4] Between these two classes, 35 ships were created.^[5] During this time, the Navy also purchased two training vessels, USS Wolverine and USS Sable.^[6][7]

The Cold War led to multiple developments in the United States' carrier fleet, starting with the addition of the Midway-class and the Saipan-class.^[8] One more class in the start of the Cold War, the United States-class, was canceled due to the Truman administration's policy of shrinking the United States Navy and in particular, the Navy's air assets. The policy was eventually revised after a public outcry and Congressional hearings sparked by the Revolt of the Admirals.^[9] Later in the Cold War era, the first of the classes dubbed "supercarriers" was born in the Forrestal-class,^[10] with the Kitty Hawk-class, USS Enterprise, and USS John F. Kennedy classes. Ordered later in this era, the Nimitz-class carriers are the only class that are currently in active-duty service.^[11]

A new class of carriers, the Gerald R. Ford-class, has been ordered by the Navy. As of now, one ship (Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)) has been completed, construction has started on one ship (John F. Kennedy (CVN-79)), and one ship has been planned (Enterprise (CVN-80)).^[12][13]

List

#[14]	Name[14]	Image	Commissioned[2]	Decommissioned[2]	Class	Status[2]	Refs.
CV-1	Langley		20 March 1922	27 February 1942	Langley, lead ship	Scuttled and Sunk 65 nm south of Cilacap, Java	[15][16][17]
CV-2	Lexington		14 December 1927	8 May 1942	Lexington, lead ship	Sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea	[17][18]
CV-3	Saratoga		16 November 1927	26 July 1946	Lexington	Sunk in Operation Crossroads as a nuclear test target near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean	[17][19]
CV-4	Ranger		4 June 1934	18 October 1946	Ranger, lead ship	Scrapped in 1947 in Chester, Pennsylvania	[20]
CV-5	Yorktown		30 September 1937	7 June 1942	Yorktown, lead ship	Sunk in the Battle of Midway	[21]
CV-6	Enterprise		12 May 1938	17 February 1947	Yorktown	Scrapped in 1960	[22]
CV-7	Wasp		25 April 1940	15 September 1942	Wasp, lead ship	Sunk during the Guadalcanal campaign	[23]
CV-8	Hornet		20 October 1941	26 October 1942	Yorktown	Sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands	[24][25]
CV-9	Essex		31 December 1942	20 June 1969	Essex, lead ship	Scrapped in 1975	[26]
CV-10	Yorktown		15 April 1943	27 June 1970	Essex	Preserved at the Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum—Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, USA	[27]
CV-11	Intrepid		16 August 1943	15 March 1974	Essex	Preserved at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum—New York, New York, USA	[28]
CV-12	Hornet		20 November 1943	26 May 1970	Essex	Preserved at USS Hornet Museum—Alameda, California, USA	[29]
CV-13	Franklin		31 January 1944	17 February 1947	Essex	Scrapped in 1966	[30]
CV-14	Ticonderoga		8 May 1944	1 September 1973	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1975	[31]
CV-15	Randolph		9 October 1944	13 February 1969	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1975	[32]
CV-16	Lexington		17 February 1943	8 November 1991	Essex	Preserved at USS Lexington Museum On the Bay— Corpus Christi, Texas, USA	[33][34]
CV-17	Bunker Hill		25 May 1943	9 July 1947	Essex	Scrapped in 1973	[35][36][37]
CV-18	Wasp		24 November 1943	1 July 1972	Essex	Scrapped in 1973	[38]
CV-19	Hancock		15 April 1944	30 January 1976	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1976	[39]
CV-20	Bennington		6 August 1944	15 January 1970	Essex	Scrapped in 1994	[40]
CV-21	Boxer		16 April 1945	1 December 1969	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1971	[41][42]
CVL-22	Independence		14 January 1943	28 August 1946	Independence light carrier, lead ship	Scuttled in 1951	[43]
CVL-23	Princeton		25 February 1943	24 October 1944	Independence	Sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf	[2]
CVL-24	Belleau Wood		31 March 1943	13 January 1947	Independence	Scrapped in 1960	[2]
CVL-25	Cowpens		28 May 1943	13 January 1947	Independence	Scrapped in 1960	[2]
CVL-26	Monterey		17 June 1943	16 January 1956	Independence	Scrapped in 1971	[2]
CVL-27	Langley		31 August 1943	11 February 1947	Independence	Scrapped in 1964	[2]
CVL-28	Cabot		24 July 1943	21 January 1955	Independence	Scrapped in 2002	[2]
CVL-29	Bataan		17 November 1943	9 April 1954	Independence	Scrapped in 1961	[44]
CVL-30	San Jacinto		15 December 1943	1 March 1947	Independence	Scrapped 1972
CV-31	Bon Homme Richard		26 November 1944	2 July 1971	Essex	Scrapped in 1992	[45]
CV-32	Leyte		11 April 1946	15 May 1959	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1970
CV-33	Kearsarge		2 May 1946	15 January 1970	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1974	[46]
CV-34	Oriskany		25 September 1950	20 September 1979	Essex (extended bow)	Scuttled as an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico in 2006
CV-36	Antietam		28 January 1945	8 May 1963	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1974	[47]
CV-37	Princeton		18 November 1945	30 January 1970	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1971
CV-38	Shangri-la		15 September 1944	30 July 1971	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1988	[48]
CV-39	Lake Champlain		3 July 1945	2 May 1966	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1972
CV-40	Tarawa		8 December 1945	13 May 1960	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1968
CVB-41	Midway		10 September 1945	11 April 1992	Midway, lead ship	Preserved at the USS Midway Museum—San Diego, California, USA	[49]
CVB-42	Franklin D. Roosevelt		27 October 1945	1 October 1977	Midway	Scrapped in 1978	[50]
CVB-43	Coral Sea		1 October 1947	26 April 1990	Midway	Scrapped in 2000	[51]
CV-45	Valley Forge		3 November 1946	15 January 1970	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1971
CV-47	Philippine Sea		11 May 1946	28 December 1958	Essex (extended bow)	Scrapped in 1971
CVL-48	Saipan		14 July 1946	14 January 1970	Saipan, lead ship	Scrapped in 1976
CVL-49	Wright		9 February 1947	15 March 1956	Saipan	Scrapped in 1980	[2]
CV-59	Forrestal		1 October 1955	30 September 1993	Forrestal supercarrier, lead ship	Scrapped in 2014	[52][53] [54] [55]
CV-60	Saratoga		14 April 1956	20 August 1994	Forrestal supercarrier	Scrapped in 2015	[56]
CV-61	Ranger		10 August 1957	10 July 1993	Forrestal supercarrier	Sold for scrapping	[57]
CV-62	Independence		10 January 1959	30 September 1998	Forrestal supercarrier	Sold for scrapping	[58]
CV-63	Kitty Hawk		29 April 1961	12 May 2009	Kitty Hawk supercarrier, lead ship	In reserve	[59]
CV-64	Constellation		27 October 1961	7 August 2003	Kitty Hawk supercarrier	Scrapped in 2015	[60]
CVN-65	Enterprise		25 November 1961	—	Enterprise supercarrier, lead ship	Inactive and defueling in 2015	[61]
CV-66	America		23 January 1965	9 August 1996	Kitty Hawk supercarrier	Sunk as target in 2005	[62]
CV-67	John F. Kennedy		7 September 1968	23 March 2007	Kennedy supercarrier, lead ship	On hold for donation	[63]
CVN-68	Nimitz		3 May 1975	—	Nimitz supercarrier, lead ship	Stationed at Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Washington	[64]
CVN-69	Dwight D. Eisenhower		18 October 1977	—	Nimitz supercarrier	Stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia	[65]
CVN-70	Carl Vinson		13 March 1982	—	Nimitz supercarrier	Stationed at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California	[66]
CVN-71	Theodore Roosevelt		25 October 1986	—	Nimitz supercarrier	Stationed at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California	[67]
CVN-72	Abraham Lincoln		11 November 1989	—	Nimitz supercarrier	Stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia	[68]
CVN-73	George Washington		4 July 1992	—	Nimitz supercarrier	Stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia	[69]
CVN-74	John C. Stennis		9 December 1995	—	Nimitz supercarrier	Stationed at Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Washington	[70]
CVN-75	Harry S. Truman		25 July 1998	—	Nimitz supercarrier	Stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia	[71]
CVN-76	Ronald Reagan		12 July 2003	—	Nimitz supercarrier	Stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base, Yokosuka, Japan	[72]
CVN-77	George H.W. Bush		10 January 2009	—	Nimitz supercarrier	Stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia	[73]
CVN-78	Gerald R. Ford		2016	—	Ford supercarrier, lead ship	Floated in dry dock 2013; Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia, Finished, awaiting commission	[74][75]
CVN-79	John F. Kennedy		~2020	—	Ford supercarrier	Keel laid; Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia	[74][76]
CVN-80°	Enterprise[13]		~2025	—	Ford supercarrier	Planned; Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia	[74][77]

Keys

•    ships currently out of service
•   (†) ships currently in active service
•   (‡) ships currently under construction
•   (°) ships currently planned

Training ships

During World War II, the United States Navy purchased two Great Lakes side-wheel paddle steamers and converted them into freshwater aircraft carrier training ships. Both vessels were designated with the hull classification symbol IX (Unclassified Miscellaneous) and lacked hangar decks, elevators or armaments. The role of these ships was for the training of pilots for carrier take-offs and landings.^[78] Together the Sable and Wolverine trained 17,820 pilots in 116,000 carrier landings. Of these, 51,000 landings were on Sable.^[79]

#[14]	Name[14]	Image	Commissioned[2]	Decommissioned[2]	Class	Status[2]	Refs.
IX-64	Wolverine		12 August 1942	7 November 1945	N/A (converted side-wheel steamer)	Scrapped in 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
IX-81	Sable		8 May 1943	7 November 1945	N/A (converted side-wheel steamer)	Scrapped in 1948 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Aircraft-carrier museums

See: U.S. Navy Museum#See also

See also

• List of amphibious warfare ships
• List of aircraft carriers
• List of aircraft carriers in service
• Timeline for aircraft carrier service
• Timeline of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
• List of aircraft carriers by configuration
• List of sunken aircraft carriers
• List of aircraft carriers by country
• Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility
• List of ships of the Second World War
• List of aircraft carriers of the Second World War

References

External links

• MaritimeQuest US Aircraft Carrier Index
• The Lost American Aircraftcarriers

United States Navy
Portal Category
Leadership	Secretary of the Navy Under Secretary of the Navy Chief of Naval Operations Vice Chief of Naval Operations Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy 4-star admirals House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces Senate Subcommittee on Seapower
Structure	Navy Navy Reserve Fleet Marine Force Expeditionary Combat Command Merchant Marine The Pentagon Units Aircraft wings Aircraft squadrons Carrier strike group Installations Naval Observatory Master jet base Operating forces Fleet Forces Command Pacific Fleet Naval Forces Europe Naval Forces Central Command Naval Forces Southern Command Naval Special Warfare Command Naval Reserve Forces Operational Test and Evaluation Force Naval Network Warfare Command Military Sealift Command Shore Naval Sea Systems Command Naval Air Systems Command Naval Facilities Engineering Command Naval Supply Systems Command Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Fleet Cyber Command Naval Academy Naval Education and Training Command Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Office of Naval Intelligence Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center Naval Legal Service Command Naval Observatory Navy Occupational Safety & Health Bureau of Naval Personnel Chief of Naval Personnel Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Navy Installations Command Fleets Third Fleet Fourth Fleet Fifth Fleet Sixth Fleet Seventh Fleet Tenth Fleet Ships A–B C D–F G–H I–K L M N–O P Q–R S T–V W–Z Aircraft carriers Airships Amphibious warfare ships Auxiliaries Battleships Cruisers Destroyers Destroyer escorts Escort carriers Frigates Mine warfare vessels Monitors Patrol vessels Sailing frigates Steam frigates Steam gunboats Ships of the line Sloops of war Submarines Torpedo boats
Personnel and training	People Officers Insignia Designators Enlisted Rates Ratings Classification Personnel Chaplain Corps Chief United States Navy EOD Medical Corps Dental Corps Nurse Corps Medical Service Corps Supply Corps Civil Engineer Corps JAG Corps NCIS Boatswain's mates Hospital corpsman Naval Aviator SEALs Seabees SWCCs Hispanic sailors Training Recruit United States Naval Academy Officer Candidate School STA-21 NROTC BESS BFTT CNATT COMPTUEX NAWCTSD AIM Naval Chaplaincy School Naval Hospital Corps School Naval Justice School Naval Postgraduate School United States Armed Forces School of Music Navy Senior Enlisted Academy Navy Supply Corps School Naval War College Nuclear Power School JMTC TOPGUN USNTPS Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Equipment	Uniforms Awards Badges Current fleet Reserve fleet Aircraft Weapons Naval reactors
History and traditions	History "Anchors Aweigh" Blue Angels Ceremonial Barge Chesapeake Continental Navy Ensign Fleet bands Fleet Week Jack Line-crossing ceremony National Museum Navy Band Navy Flag Navy Hymn Navy Memorial Navy service numbers Sailor's Creed Ship commissioning Ship decommissioning Tingey House USS Constitution Wetting-down United States naval gunfire support debate