Aircraft Carriers and Escort Carriers

Warships built around a flight deck from which aircraft take off and land, from the fleet carriers that formed the striking arm of a navy to the smaller light fleet carriers and the escort carriers that protected convoys and supported landings. Many were converted from liners, tankers or merchant hulls that were still under construction. An entry belongs here when the cited article calls the ship, or its class, an aircraft carrier, light fleet carrier, escort carrier or auxiliary carrier. It excludes seaplane tenders without a full flight deck and the helicopter carrying destroyers of modern fleets. Entries are placed by what their own cited article says, so each one sits in the narrowest group its source supports, and the group page lists it beside the other members.