For centuries, the largest ships with the most powerful cannons were the core of every navy. The Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad of the Franco-Spanish fleet that faced the British fleet under Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar (Oct. 21, 1805) had four decks and 136 guns. That made it one of the largest warships in history.
As airplanes became part of military forces, there was a need for aircraft carriers. In fact, America’s first aircraft carrier was the USS Langley, commissioned 100 years ago. At first, however, senior naval officers were highly skeptical about the use of carriers, believing they had little value “beyond scouting and observing the fall of shot for battleships,” as The Smithsonian explains.
By the middle of the 20th century, battleships had grown tremendously and remained at the core of the world’s largest navies. The Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor sank or destroyed eight American battleships. Among them, the USS Arizona weighed 30,000 tons, was over 600 feet long, had 14 inch guns, and a crew of almost 1,200. (These are the worst disasters in naval history.)
But the previously all important battleships have given way to aircraft carriers — at least in the world’s largest navies. Among other capabilities, their utility is that they can strike at targets hundreds of miles away because of the range of the planes they carry. America’s Nimitz-class aircraft carriers weigh over 100,000 tons, are over 1,000 feet long, and carry 90 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. (This is the world’s largest warship.)
Using archives from the U.S. Navy and other sources, 24/7 Wall St. collected the name of each aircraft carrier manufactured, when it was commissioned, and how long it stayed in service. Carriers are listed in chronological order by commission date.
The first U.S. aircraft carrier was not even built as a carrier. The USS Langley had previously been the USS Jupiter, which was commissioned in April 1913.
The Jupiter was a refueling ship that had also transported personnel and cargo. With its large cargo holds, it was one of the few Navy ships with enough space to accommodate aircraft. Its conversion began in 1920, and it was recommissioned with the new configurations as the USS Langley on March 20, 1922.
American carriers are designed by the initials “CV.” The Langley carried the designation “CV-1”
Click here to see America’s first aircraft carrier
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-1 Langley
> Class: Langley
> Commissioned: March 20, 1922
> Service life: 19 years, 11 months and 7 days
> Status: scuttled and sunk south of Java
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Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-2 Lexington
> Class: Lexington
> Commissioned: December 14, 1927
> Service life: 14 years, 4 months and 24 days
> Status: sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-3 Saratoga
> Class: Lexington
> Commissioned: November 16, 1927
> Service life: 18 years, 8 months and 12 days
> Status: sunk in nuclear test target near Bikini Atoll
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-4 Ranger
> Class: Ranger
> Commissioned: June 4, 1934
> Service life: 12 years, 4 months and 14 days
> Status: scrapped in 1947
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-5 Yorktown
> Class: Yorktown
> Commissioned: september 30, 1937
> Service life: 4 years, 8 months and 8 days
> Status: sunk in the Battle of Midway
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-6 Enterprise
> Class: Yorktown
> Commissioned: May 12, 1938
> Service life: 8 years, 9 months and 5 days
> Status: scrapped in 1960
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CV-7 Wasp
> Class: Wasp
> Commissioned: April 25, 1940
> Service life: 2 years, 4 months and 21 days
> Status: sunk during the Guadalcanal campaign
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Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr
CV-8 Hornet
> Class: Yorktown
> Commissioned: October 20, 1941
> Service life: 1 year and 6 days
> Status: sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
CV-9 Essex
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: December 31, 1942
> Service life: 26 years, 5 months and 20 days
> Status: scrapped in 1975
Source: GabrielPevide / iStock via Getty Images
CV-10 Yorktown
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: April 15, 1943
> Service life: 27 years, 2 months and 12 days
> Status: preserved at the Patriot’s Point Naval & Maritime Museum–Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, USA
CV-11 Intrepid
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: August 16, 1943
> Service life: 30 years, 6 months and 27 days
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CV-12 Hornet
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: November 20, 1943
> Service life: 26 years, 6 months and 6 days
> Status: preserved at USS Hornet Museum–Alameda, California
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CV-13 Franklin
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: January 31, 1944
> Service life: 2 years, 11 months and 17 days
> Status: scrapped in 1966
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-14 Ticonderoga
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: May 8, 1944
> Service life: 29 years, 3 months and 24 days
> Status: scrapped in 1975
Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr
CV-15 Randolph
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: October 9, 1944
> Service life: 24 years, 4 months and 4 days
> Status: scrapped in 1975
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-16 Lexington
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: February 17, 1943
> Service life: 48 years, 8 months and 22 days
> Status: preserved at USS Lexington Museum On the Bay– Corpus Christi, Texas
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-17 Bunker Hill
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: May 25, 1943
> Service life: 4 years, 1 month and 14 days
> Status: scrapped in 1973
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Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-18 Wasp
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: November 24, 1943
> Service life: 28 years, 7 months and 7 days
> Status: scrapped in 1973
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-19 Hancock
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: April 15, 1944
> Service life: 31 years, 9 months and 15 days
> Status: scrapped in 1976
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CV-20 Bennington
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: August 6, 1944
> Service life: 25 years, 5 months and 9 days
> Status: scrapped in 1994
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
CV-21 Boxer
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: April 16, 1945
> Service life: 24 years, 7 months and 15 days
> Status: scrapped in 1971
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CVL-22 Independence
> Class: Independence
> Commissioned: January 14, 1943
> Service life: 3 years, 7 months and 14 days
> Status: scuttled in 1951
Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr
CVL-23 Princeton
> Class: Independence
> Commissioned: February 25, 1943
> Service life: 1 year, 7 months and 29 days
> Status: sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf
Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr
CVL-24 Belleau Wood
> Class: Independence
> Commissioned: March 31, 1943
> Service life: 3 years, 9 months and 13 days
> Status: scrapped in 1960
24/7 Wall St.
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CVL-25 Cowpens
> Class: Independence
> Commissioned: May 28, 1943
> Service life: 3 years, 7 months and 16 days
> Status: scrapped in 1960
CVL-26 Monterey
> Class: Independence
> Commissioned: June 17, 1943
> Service life: 12 years, 6 months and 30 days
> Status: scrapped in 1971
Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr
CVL-27 Langley
> Class: Independence
> Commissioned: August 31, 1943
> Service life: 3 years, 5 months and 11 days
> Status: scrapped in 1964
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CVL-28 Cabot
> Class: Independence
> Commissioned: July 24, 1943
> Service life: 11 years, 5 months and 28 days
> Status: scrapped in 2002
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CVL-29 Bataan
> Class: Independence
> Commissioned: November 17, 1943
> Service life: 10 years, 4 months and 23 days
> Status: scrapped in 1961
Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr
CVL-30 San Jacinto
> Class: Independence
> Commissioned: December 15, 1943
> Service life: 3 years, 2 months and 14 days
> Status: scrapped 1972
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CV-31 Bon Homme Richard
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: November 26, 1944
> Service life: 26 years, 7 months and 6 days
> Status: scrapped in 1992
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CV-32 Leyte
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: April 11, 1946
> Service life: 13 years, 1 month and 4 days
> Status: scrapped in 1970
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-33 Kearsarge
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: May 2, 1946
> Service life: 23 years, 8 months and 13 days
> Status: scrapped in 1974
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-34 Oriskany
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: september 25, 1950
> Service life: 28 years, 11 months and 26 days
> Status: scuttled as an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico in 2006
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-36 Antietam
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: January 28, 1945
> Service life: 18 years, 3 months and 10 days
> Status: scrapped in 1974
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
CV-37 Princeton
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: November 18, 1945
> Service life: 24 years, 2 months and 12 days
> Status: scrapped in 1971
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-38 Shangri-la
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: september 15, 1944
> Service life: 26 years, 10 months and 15 days
> Status: scrapped in 1988
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Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr
CV-39 Lake Champlain
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: July 3, 1945
> Service life: 20 years, 9 months and 29 days
> Status: scrapped in 1972
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-40 Tarawa
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: December 8, 1945
> Service life: 14 years, 5 months and 5 days
> Status: scrapped in 1968
Source: airandspace / Flickr
CVB-41 Midway
> Class: Midway
> Commissioned: september 10, 1945
> Service life: 46 years, 7 months and 1 day
> Status: preserved at the USS Midway Museum–San Diego, California, USA
Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr
CVB-42 Franklin D. Roosevelt
> Class: Midway
> Commissioned: October 27, 1945
> Service life: 31 years, 11 months and 4 days
> Status: scrapped in 1978
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Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr
CVB-43 Coral Sea
> Class: Midway
> Commissioned: October 1, 1947
> Service life: 42 years, 6 months and 25 days
> Status: scrapped in 1993
Source: national_museum_of_the_us_navy / Flickr / Public Domain
CV-45 Valley Forge
> Class: Essex
> Commissioned: November 3, 1946
> Service life: 23 years, 2 months and 12 days
> Status: scrapped in 1971
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-47 Philippine Sea
> Class: Essex (extended bow)
> Commissioned: May 11, 1946
> Service life: 12 years, 7 months and 17 days
> Status: scrapped in 1971
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CVL-48 Saipan
> Class: saipan
> Commissioned: July 14, 1946
> Service life: 23 years and 6 months
> Status: scrapped in 1976
CVL-49 Wright
> Class: saipan
> Commissioned: February 9, 1947
> Service life: 9 years, 1 month and 6 days
> Status: scrapped in 1980
CV-59 Forrestal
> Class: Forrestal
> Commissioned: October 1, 1955
> Service life: 37 years, 11 months and 29 days
> Status: scrapped in 2014
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CV-60 Saratoga
> Class: Forrestal
> Commissioned: April 14, 1956
> Service life: 38 years, 4 months and 6 days
> Status: scrapped in 2015
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-61 Ranger
> Class: Forrestal
> Commissioned: August 10, 1957
> Service life: 35 years and 11 months
> Status: scrapped in 2017
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-62 Independence
> Class: Forrestal
> Commissioned: January 10, 1959
> Service life: 39 years, 8 months and 20 days
> Status: scrapped in 2018
Source: Stocktrek Images / Stocktrek Images via Getty Images
CV-63 Kitty Hawk
> Class: Kitty Hawk
> Commissioned: April 29, 1961
> Service life: 48 years and 13 days
> Status: struck, to be scrapped
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Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
CV-64 Constellation
> Class: Kitty Hawk
> Commissioned: October 27, 1961
> Service life: 41 years, 9 months and 11 days
> Status: scrapped in 2015
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
CVN-65 Enterprise
> Class: Enterprise
> Commissioned: November 25, 1961
> Service life: 55 years, 2 months and 9 days
> Status: scrapped 2017
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CV-66 America
> Class: Kitty Hawk
> Commissioned: January 23, 1965
> Service life: 31 years, 6 months and 17 days
> Status: sunk as target in 2005
24/7 Wall St.
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CV-67 John F. Kennedy
> Class: John F. Kennedy
> Commissioned: september 7, 1968
> Service life: 38 years, 6 months and 16 days
> Status: designated for scrapping
Source: Stocktrek Images / Stocktrek Images via Getty Images
CVN-68 Nimitz
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: May 3, 1975
> Service life: 47 years, 1 month and 2 days
> Status: stationed at Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Washington
CVN-69 Dwight D. Eisenhower
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: October 18, 1977
> Service life: 44 years, 7 months and 18 days
> Status: stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
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Source: viper-zero / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
CVN-70 Carl Vinson
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: March 13, 1982
> Service life: 40 years, 2 months and 23 days
> Status: stationed at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CVN-71 Theodore Roosevelt
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: October 25, 1986
> Service life: 35 years, 7 months and 11 days
> Status: stationed at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California
Source: viper-zero / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
CVN-72 Abraham Lincoln
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: November 11, 1989
> Service life: 32 years, 6 months and 25 days
> Status: stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CVN-73 George Washington
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: July 4, 1992
> Service life: 29 years, 11 months and 1 day
> Status: stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
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CVN-74 John C. Stennis
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: December 9, 1995
> Service life: 26 years, 5 months and 27 days
> Status: stationed at Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Washington
Source: Sven Eckelkamp / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
CVN-75 Harry S. Truman
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: July 25, 1998
> Service life: 23 years, 10 months and 11 days
> Status: stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
Source: Stocktrek Images / Stocktrek Images via Getty Images
CVN-76 Ronald Reagan
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: July 12, 2003
> Service life: 18 years, 10 months and 24 days
> Status: stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base, Yokosuka, Japan
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Source: Stocktrek Images / Stocktrek Images via Getty Images
CVN-77 George H.W. Bush
> Class: Nimitz
> Commissioned: January 10, 2009
> Service life: 13 years, 4 months and 26 days
> Status: stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford
> Class: Gerald R. Ford
> Commissioned: July 22, 2017
> Service life: 4 years, 10 months and 14 days
> Status: stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
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