HMS

The leading nation in aircraft carriers: If the United States are remembered today for a considerable fleet of aircraft carriers, the type was first thought after and developed in Great Britain. Along with UK, Japan was also quite enthusiastic about naval air warfare, as demonstrated by air attacks on the German Port of Tsin Tao in 1914 already. During the great war, in addition to many seaplanes carriers, the Royal Navy installed platforms on many of her battleships turrets to launch fighters, and converted a first battlecruiser, the HMS Furious, in 1917, which became eventually the first true operational aircraft carrier. Alongside this, she operated a dozen of seaplane carriers or hybrid ships such as the first Ark Royal.

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However that effort was isolated as soon, the cruiser HMS Vindictive was converted in parallel, as well as the HMS Argus, a liner, and later a Chilean-ordered battleships still unfinished (converted after the war as HMS Eagle) and laid down in 1918 the first purpose-built aircraft carrier, HMS Hermes (the Hosho was laid down later but completed before). That was during the interwar, the position of a leader and “true believer”. The United States took time to follow suite, first by converting a former collier, as the USS Langley in 1920, and two canceled battlecruisers (Lexington class) in 1927.