List of sunken aircraft carriers



With the advent of heavier-than-air flight, the aircraft carrier has become a decisive weapon at sea. In 1911 first aircraft to be successfully launched and landed on a ship with the successful flight of a Curtiss Pusher aboard the USS Pennsylvania. The British Royal Navy pioneered the first aircraft carrier as floatplanes and flying boats under preformed compared to traditional land based aircraft. The first true aircraft carrier was the HMS Argus (I49) being launched in late 1917 with a complement of 20 aircraft and flight deck 550 ft and 68 ft wide. Today twenty-one aircraft carriers are currently active throughout the world. No aircraft carrier has been sunk in wartime since the sinking of the Japanese aircraft carrier Amagi in harbour in July 1945.