Aircraft carriers-differences in design?

elkarlo

Banned
To some extent. Given that they had to operate in range of land-based air, heavy protection was always desirable, but if numbers of aircraft had been larger, they would have designed them accordingly.
The types and options of carriers they looked at in the 30's is quite interesting, and often at odds with the popular mythos.


Very true, the balance was different. I think what a lot of people don't understand that is prolly takes a good 6 years to get a capital ship from drawing board to being a commissioned ship. In 1935 planes still weren't very good, and if they attacked ships, they would prolly do far worse than they did in 1941. So you really can't hindsight design these things. Which despite the Musashi and Yamato being massive wastes, they were made with sound planning.

Also the Japanese were on the opposite end of the spectrum. They were heavily attack orientated. Even their heavy cruisers didn't have much armor outside of the the engine areas, and the fronts of the major turrets. While the Brits tended to be a bit more cautious.
 
Also the British armoured carriers were designed around tight treaty limits that the Government HOPED would be imposed. Had the designers been given a free hand they would have been somewhat larger with a more realistically sized airgroup. The same wishfull thinking can be seen in the KGVs, with their smaller calliber guns and the B gun turret of a different design to the others. A last minute decision to save wieght and meet a HOPED FOR treaty tonnage limit.
 
HMS Illustrious, commissioned May 25th 1940
HMS Victorious, commissioned May 14th 1941
HMS Formidable, commissioned November 24th 1940
HMS Indomitable, commissioned October 10th 1941

A bit dishonest ain't it comparing the Illustrious-class then with the Yorktown-class since the Illustrious-class isn't a pre-war class. A pre-war class is finished pre-war not during.
HMS Illustrious, launched April 1939
HMS Victorious, launched September 1939
HMS Formidable, launched August 1939
HMS Indomitable, launched March 1940

They were effectively pre-war, I mean compared to the Hornet, which was launched only in December 1940.
 
Top