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A little aircraft carrier history
"The era of steam on aircraft carriers began in 1950, with the British Royal Navy trialing the technology on the HMS Perseus (R51). The ship’s boilers generated steam from desalinated seawater, pumped the resulting vapor into dry receivers or wet accumulators and then released it through a set of valves to drive steam pistons. The piston stroke functions as the catapult, as it flings an aircraft loaded into a deck shuttle off the ship."
Just in case you wanted to know. Any other interesting carrier history tidbits? |
Where do you start with the RN? First purpose built carrier, Mirror landing system, angled deck, armoured flight decks, ski jump, first jet landing, first nose wheel landing, first non-undercarriage landing, first twin engine landing? The list is long and distinguished, just like my……oops, wrong navy!!
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My father, who earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and a Masters Degree in Naval Architecture from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, was the lead hull designer for the Essex class aircraft carrier. Twenty-four examples were built and none were lost. Those ships were very important in the Pacific Theater and helped assure an Allied victory.
I thank punkalouver for starting this thread today, for it is, coincidentally, the forty-fourth anniversary of my father's death. He was but sixty-one when he catapulted West into a beautiful sunset for the last time. Oh how he loved the sea and the sky. The perfect combination for a carrier designer, wasn't he? I'll contribute more to this thread soon - Lord knows I have some stories to relate - but today I toast my Dad and wipe tears from my eyes all these years later. In all my almost seventy years, I have yet to encounter a finer man... - Ed :ok: https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....eae982a078.png |
Cavuman, Your father contributed to a carrier class that helped to win WW2 and prevent WW3, including fighting in the proxy campaigns throughout the Cold War with the Lexington only decommisioning in 1991. I was on the Intrepid earlier this year in NYC. Your father did fine work....... |
Cavuman Beautiful tribute to your father. He would be proud of you. |
The Lexington, aka the blue ghost, is still a going concern as a museum in the harbor at Corpus Christi Texas. Worth a visit.
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Eval....you omitted first C-130 takeoff and landing, first Astronauts returning from walking on the Moon, first nuclear powered carrier, and a few such minor firsts for our side with only 15 of them operational at a time.
Why the USN lagged behind the RN in Carrier developments is a story that needs telling. Why it was so long for the Navy to figure out the advantages of an angled flight deck would be a good start. |
Originally Posted by SASless
(Post 10372425)
Eval....you omitted first C-130 takeoff and landing, first Astronauts returning from walking on the Moon, first nuclear powered carrier, and a few such minor firsts for our side with only 15 of them operational at a time.
Why the USN lagged behind the RN in Carrier developments is a story that needs telling. Why it was so long for the Navy to figure out the advantages of an angled flight deck would be a good start. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...iation-355046/ is also relevant to SASless's post, and also helpfully credits Rear Admiral Nicholas Goodhart with inventing the mirror landing sight. Jack |
Don’t forget the submarine aircraft carriers, which don’t have such an illustrious (sic) history.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submar...rcraft_carrier |
It's a nice debate about being first. If Wikipedia can be believed some might find this little titbit rather enlightening:
The angled flight deck was first tested on HMS Triumph by painting angled deck markings onto the centerline of the flight deck for touch and go landings.This was also tested onUSS Midway the same year.Despite the new markings, in both cases the arresting gear and barriers were still aligned with the centerline of the original deck. From September to December 1952, USS Antietam had a rudimentary sponson installed for true angled deck tests, allowing for full arrested landings, which proved during trials to be superior. In 1953, Antietamtrained with both U.S. and British naval units, proving the worth of the angled deck concept. HMS Centaur was modified with overhanging angled flight deck in 1954. The U.S. Navy installed the decks as part of the SCB-125 upgrade for the Essex class and SCB-110/110A for the Midway class. In February 1955, HMS Ark Royal became the first carrier to be constructed and launched with an angled deck, rather than having one retrofitted. This was followed in the same year by the lead ships of the British Majestic class (HMAS Melbourne) and the American Forrestal class (USS Forrestal). |
And don't forget the American Brodie system...... brave men.
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Winkle Brown tested the gearless landing system with the rubber carrier deck...... I kid you not.
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One related point: Before the successful testing of the angled deck, the USN experimented with all kinds of other ways of operating high-performance aircraft at sea, including the tailless, high-alpha F7U and F4D, the swing-wing Grumman Jaguar, VTOL tail-sitters and the F2Y Sea Dart. All such things became rapidly extinct once the steam cat, angled deck and mirror landing system were proven to work.
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Interestingly, Australia's HMAS Melbourne was the first operational carrier ever to commission with all three of the new jet-age systems, angled deck, steam catapult and mirror, on 28 October 1955.
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As seen from an American perspective......
https://www.historyonthenet.com/angl...craft-carriers The Japanese Navy Method....during WWII. https://forums.ubi.com/showthread.ph...anese-carriers |
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