How many aircraft carriers were built in World War 2?

Answer 1

There were 8 carriers at the start of WW2. They were the Langley, the Lexington, the Saratoga, the Ranger, the Yorktown, the Enterprise, the Wasp, and the Hornet. The Ranger was the first whose hull was laid down as a carrier. The ones before were converted from other types of ships.

The reason that the United States had only eight carrier at the start of the war is that carriers are very expensive and very powerful and there was no apparent need for more in peacetime. Some people would have preferred more but some would have preferred less (some senior naval officers still doubted the usefulness of carriers) so we had eight. Japan only had about twelve if I remember correctly. We began a crash program to produce more as soon as the war began. We produced an incredible number of them. When the war ended we had ninety nine in commission. Since we lost some during the war we must have built close to a hundred of them. Michael Montagne

Answer 2

I don't have a total breakdown in front of me but I do know that the USA had a lot of carriers by the end of WWII. There were basically two types, the fleet carrier, which was a large, long range affair. The second was an escort carrier, much smaller, used for closer distance action. In the Pacific alone at the time of Japan's surrender the USA had a total of 99 of these two types of carrier. I would guess that of these twenty or so were fleet carriers and the rest, escort carriers. Before the atomic bombs ended the war the USA had felt that 100 carriers would be needed to completely dominate the air space around Japan, that being necessary for the planned invasion by land forces. Thus 99 had been readied for the assault. I will assume that the USA also had a few in the Atlantic although that theatre was mostly defended by the British fleet. The USA had a lot of merchant marine tonnage in the Atlantic, but few warships.

Answer 3

25 CV Fleet Carriers (3 didnt see action)

78 CVE Escort (Jeep)

9 CVL Light

The US had 8 CV Fleet built before the war

USA had 6 aircraft carriers in commission at the time of Pearl Harbor. There were 99 in commission at the end of war. USA lost 9 aircraft carriers during the course of the war, which means USA must have built 102 aircraft carriers. Bear in mind this was done in 45 months. This is an average of just over 2 per month.

Answer 4

Eight, but one had been converted to a seaplane tender and was used primarily for transport.

The seven active:

* USS Lexington (CV-2) * USS Saratoga (CV-3) * USS Ranger (CV-4) * USS Yorktown (CV-5) * USS Enterprise (CV-6) * USS Wasp (CV-7) * USS Hornet (CV-8) *

plus the USS Langley (CV-1) which had been converted to a seaplane tender (AV-3) before the war.

Answer 5

By the start of the war with the US in 1941, Japan had 9 carriers. Interestingly, Japan pioneered in the building of aircraft carriers. Today, the U.S. has 12 carriers, the Royal Naval has 3, and there are a total of 9 countries that have aircraft carriers. The US and Great Britain are the only countries relying heavily on carriers.

Answer 6

Several baby flat-tops (CVE-Escort Carriers) served in the Atlantic. The fleet carriers USS Ranger and USS Wasp served in the Atlantic theater for a time; until US Navy losses of fleet carriers in the Pacific required the transfer of the USS Wasp from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. She was sunk there by a Japanese submarine. The USS Ranger was the only US Navy fleet carrier, that existed prior to WWII, to never have fought the Japanese Navy. The USS Ranger served thru-out the war in the Atlantic, deemed to frail for Pacific operations.

Answer 7

USS Langley (although redesignated); USS Lexington; USS Saratoga; USS Yorktown; USS Enterprise; USS Ranger; USS Hornet; and USS Wasp. All were sunk by the IJN except for the Ranger & Saratoga. Sara was sunk at Bikini Island in '46 to atomic bomb testing (Operation Crossroads), it is now a recreational diving site.

Answer 8

The US had 8 operable carriers on December 7, 1941. They included the Lexington, Saratoga, Ranger, Yorktown, Enterprise, Hornet, Wasp, and Long Island.

Answer 9

Two