Flight deck cruiser
The flight-deck cruiser was a proposed type of aircraft cruiser, (warships combining features of aircraft carriers and light cruisers), designed by the United States Navy during the Interwar period (between World War I and World War II). Several designs were proposed for the type, but none was approved for construction. The final design was developed just before World War II, and the entry of the United States into the war saw the project come to an end.
Background
In the 1920s, following the signing of the
Designs
Several designs were proposed for a ship carrying both aircraft and a gun armament equivalent to a light cruiser's. One design, from 1930,
In 1934, another design for a flight-deck cruiser was proposed, featuring twelve 6 in (152 mm) guns, mounted forwards and aft with a 200-foot (61 m) flight deck in between;[5] while a 1939 revival of the concept proposed two triple turrets, fore and aft, again with an amidships flight deck.[5]
In December 1939, a design for a much larger flight-deck cruiser, displacing 12,000 tons, was proposed, fitted with two catapults, a triple turret for 8-inch (203 mm) guns, and a 420-foot (130 m) flight deck;[5] by January 1940 the design had been shrunk to a flight deck 390 feet (120 m) in length and two triple 6 in (152 mm) guns for main armament.[5]
Abandonment
Despite the continued designs and interest in the idea, no funding was ever appropriated for the construction of a flight-deck cruiser;
Similar ships
Although no flight-deck cruisers were ever built by the U.S. Navy, the Soviet Union's Kiev-class aircraft carrier, developed in the 1970s, is remarkably similar to that of the original flight-deck cruiser design, featuring an angled flight deck aft with anti-ship missile launchers forwards.[7]
In addition, during the early 1980s, plans were proposed for the reactivation of the U.S. Navy's
See also
- Moskva-class helicopter carrier
- Invincible-class aircraft carrier
- Vittorio Veneto-class helicopter carrier
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Adcock, Al (1996). Escort Carriers in Action. Warships. Vol. 9. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications. ISBN 0-89747-356-6.
- Bonner, Kermit (1997). Final Voyages. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing. ISBN 978-1-56311-289-8. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-739-5. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
- Friedman, Norman (1984). U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-718-0.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. Roger Chesneau. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
- Muir, Malcolm (1989). The Iowa Class Battleships. Avon, UK: The Bath Press. ISBN 0-7137-1732-7.
Further reading
- Andrade, Ernest Jr. (December 1968). "The Ship that Never Was: The Flying-Deck Cruiser". Military Affairs. 32 (3). ISSN 0899-3718.
- Layman, R.D.; McLaughlin, Stephen (1990). The Hybrid Warship : The Amalgamation of Big Guns and Aircraft. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-555-1.
- Zimm, A.D. (1979). "The USN's Flight Deck Cruiser". Warship International. 79 (3).
External links
- The Saga of Tarrantry, a fictional World War II story featuring a flight-deck cruiser-like vessel.