Introduction to Four Types of Warships: "What is an Aircraft Carrier?"

This is the last type of ship in this series. But I later found out there are also "destroyers". I'll add an introduction later. Today, let's talk about aircraft carriers. You're probably all more familiar with them than the other three types. They are the "moving airports on the sea". So I'll go into a bit more detail. Unlike other warships, the aircraft carrier's bridge is located on the starboard side. This is so the bridge doesn't interfere with the flight deck. Below the deck, there's a "hangar bay" used to store aircraft. There's an elevator between the hangar bay and the deck to transport aircraft. When aircraft take off, there's a "catapult" on the deck, such as electromagnetic or steam catapults. You can probably imagine the electromagnetic ones. Steam catapults use the "kinetic energy" of "superheated steam" to propel a piston, providing external acceleration to the aircraft. It's like throwing a paper airplane. We've talked about takeoff, now let's discuss landing. Because aircraft fly at such high speeds, deceleration is a major focus when landing on an airport. Especially on that tiny deck at sea. 😅 So, what's needed at this point is... Ta-da! The "arresting gear"! When stretched out, it allows the aircraft to be caught by the rope, like a marathon runner reaching the finish line. This achieves the purpose of deceleration. Sometimes, mistakes happen. In such cases, you can only abort and try landing again. Finally, let's talk about an interesting aircraft carrier I saw a few days ago. I originally thought carriers didn't have turrets. The Japanese carrier Zuikaku had anti-aircraft guns and machine gun turrets below the flight deck. It was a carrier with self-defense capabilities. The first picture is the Zuikaku (a late WWII carrier). The other two are modern carriers. By the way, Tanya below is super cool.