USN
Stern view of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) as it moves across the Arabian Sea.
With the decommissioning of the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) in 2017, the "Old Salt" USS Nimitz is now the US Navy’s and the world's oldest serving aircraft carrier.
Ford class carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and embarked staff from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12 arrived in Souda Bay, Crete, for a scheduled port visit. Dec 2, 2023
PACIFIC OCEAN (Dec. 1, 2023) An E/A-18G Growler, assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129, prepares to launch from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).
RN
HMS Unicorn was the world's first Aircraft Maintenance Carrier. Completed in March 1943, she could be used as a conventional carrier, a ferry as well as a maintenance ship for aircraft. She proved invaluable to the British Pacific Fleet in WW2.
Whereas the US Navy relied heavily on replacement aircraft sent to the fleet on jeep carriers, the RN depended more on repairing damaged aircraft to maintain squadrons on their carriers. By the end of the war, Unicorn had repaired over 600 aircraft.
The German WW2 aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin fitting out at Stettin. She was never completed. Roughly the length of an Essex class carrier at 861 (to 872)feet long she was much heavier at 33,000 tons (to 27,000).
Her machinery would have produced an impressive 200,000 shp (to 150,000) pushing her along at 35 knots. However her airgroup would have been much smaller at ~40 aircraft (to 90).
USS Midway on trials in 1970 after her very expensive ($200m) modernization at Hunters Point Shipyard. After pushing the Midway design to the limits, the ship would be plagued by stability problems for the remainder of her career.
USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS Ranger (CV-61) and USS Oriskany (CV-34) tied up at Alameda circa 1970s. Also present are the cruisers USS Bainbridge (CGN-25) and USS Truxtun (CGN-35).
Thanks to Chuck Walden for identifying the cruisers.
HMS Triumph (A108), as a Fleet Repair Ship. No Date or Place.
She was originally a Colossus class Light Fleet Carrier first commissioned in May 1946.
Along with USS Vally Forge, Triumph were the first carriers on the scene when the Korean War broke out.
She began a slow conversion into a fleet repair ship in 1957 and was recommissioned in 1965. She was based in Singapore with the Far East Fleet, where she maintained destroyers and frigates.
When the Far East Fleet stood down in 1972, she returned to the UK and placed in reserve. Although in excellent condition she was listed for disposal in the 1981 Defence Review.
She was in the process of being scrapped in Spain when the Falklands War broke out and her facilities were sorely missed.
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