… On October 25, 1944, Japanese sabotage unit No. 1 secretly reached the approaches to Leyte Gulf, where hundreds of American transports with troops were unloaded. The main forces of the US Navy were fighting Japanese aircraft carriers far in the North, no one expected the appearance of a new Japanese armada.
At 05:45, silhouettes of ships appeared directly on the course. In front of the Japanese squadron was the compound "Taffy-3" (zarg. From "TF" - task force), consisting of six escort aircraft carriers: "Fansho Bay", "Kalinin Bay", "Gambier Bay", "St. Lo", "White Plains and Kitken Bay, three destroyers and an escort.
“A Japanese formation of 4 battleships and 7 cruisers was spotted 20 miles north of the task force. Approaching at a speed of 30 knots, "- the message from the reconnaissance aircraft shocked the American ships. And at the same moment, columns of water shot up around the small "aircraft carriers-jeeps" - the flagship "Yamato" opened fire from its monstrous 460 mm guns. The only thing Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague could do was to give the order to "increase the speed to full" and lift all the aircraft into the air. Thus began one of the most exciting chases in naval history.
Six escort aircraft carriers flew south, fiercely snapping at their planes. The chances were slim - "aircraft carriers-jeeps" in combat conditions had a move of no more than 17 knots. This was enough for escorting convoys, but did not bode well in a battle with fast warships.
… The sea was seething with Japanese shells, but battleships for several hours could not catch up with seemingly slow-moving cans without armor and heavy weapons. Trying to close the distance, the Japanese ships came under such a flurry of attacks by carrier-based aircraft that they were forced to maneuver abruptly, dodging the fired torpedoes. It was impossible to pursue targets or conduct accurate shooting in such conditions. Finally, the Japanese were lucky - the escort aircraft carrier "Gambier Bay" received several hits and lost its speed. The next minute, Japanese shells tore him to shreds. The payment for the only victory was the death of two heavy cruisers, the rest of the ships of Admiral Kurita's compound were severely injured. The Japanese sailors were shocked by the resistance, they assumed they were fighting heavy Essex-class aircraft carriers.
Flat tops
Of the total number of aircraft carriers built in the United States during the war, only 29 were "classic" - with spacious decks, numerous air wings and high speed. The vast majority of American aircraft carriers were "flat tops" (from the English. "Flat top", a smooth top), i.e. small, slow-moving, cheap and with a limited air wing - no more than 25-30 aircraft. All of them were built according to the standards of civil shipbuilding, which greatly simplified their construction.
At the same time, the escort aircraft carrier was not much like a conventional ship. Re-equipment - poorly said, we need to talk about making fundamental changes to the original project. The appearance of the ship was changing unrecognizably, and its internal "filling" underwent even greater changes.
The flight deck is just the tip of the iceberg. Although the very fact of the appearance of a smooth steel strip with a length of 130 meters testifies to a lot. Several rows of air controllers, one or two hydropneumatic catapults are a standard set for the operation of carrier-based aircraft. An "island" superstructure was built on the starboard side, the aircraft carrier acquired its characteristic external attributes.
The next important item is the under-deck hangar for storing aircraft. This is not a simple warehouse with shelving. It was necessary to ensure fire safety, install a reliable ventilation system and equip a couple of elevators for lifting aircraft to the flight deck. Further, it was required to provide storage space for 550 tons of aviation gasoline [1], to lay hundreds of meters of fuel lines. The design of the bottom of the ship was changed - anti-torpedo protection appeared (very primitive from the point of view of a real warship).
Under normal conditions, the crew of a civilian dry cargo ship does not exceed 50 people. In the case of an escort aircraft carrier, it was necessary to equip living quarters for several hundred people (the crews of the most massive escort aircraft carriers of the Casablanca type consisted of 860 sailors and 56 pilots, in fact 916 people!). Do not forget about useful "little things" - radars and defensive weapons (and these are dozens of small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery barrels and airborne sponsors for their placement). Escort aircraft carriers, despite their modest size, carried a full complement of radio equipment, just like "real" Essex-class aircraft carriers.
So what do we see? Building an escort aircraft carrier is by no means a cheap undertaking. The unit cost of 1 ton of "flat-top" practically did not differ from the cost of 1 ton of a "classic" aircraft carrier. The general decrease in the cost of construction occurred only due to the smaller size of the ship and a decrease in its combat qualities - power plants from civilian dry cargo ships were installed on the escort ships, as a result, the speed of the escort aircraft carrier was two times lower than that of real warships.
The idea of building "flat-tops" was dictated by the need to provide transoceanic convoys with air cover - it was irrational to use conventional aircraft carriers for these purposes, their capabilities and speed were clearly excessive. The logical way out was the massive construction of light aircraft carriers, which are most appropriate to the convoy missions. This was the demand of the times.
Escort aircraft carriers, despite their tightness, low speed and small air wing, remained formidable ships as before. Many of the 783 sunk Kriegsmarine U-bots fell prey to carrier-based anti-submarine aircraft. For example, the escort aircraft carrier "Bogue" destroyed 9 German and 1 Japanese submarine [2]. "Card" - 8 German submarines, "Anzio" - 5 Japanese. And the results of the amazing battle at Fr. Samar showed that the combat capabilities of escort aircraft carriers go far beyond the scope of escort functions. It was a good idea for its time, but after the Second World War the idea of escort aircraft carriers was bent - the increased landing speed of new aircraft did not allow to accept jets on short decks of "flat-tops".
History of the Atlantic Conveyor
Of course, the basing of carrier-based jet aircraft on "ersatz aircraft carriers" built on the basis of tankers and bulk carriers is impossible. But after all, successful vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL) were created - the British "Harrier" and its naval version "Sea Harrier", the Soviet Yak-38 flew relatively successfully, a unique supersonic VTOL aircraft Yak-141 appeared. Nowadays, the long-suffering modification of the F-35B is being developed - after all, it was not worth creating a light Air Force fighter, a Navy carrier-based aircraft and a "vertical aircraft" on the basis of a single design - these aircraft have too different tasks, on top of all the troubles, this porridge is thickly seasoned with technology " stealth ". But nevertheless, the F-35B fighter exists, and it must be taken into account in further calculations.
What if you really tried to use a conventional tanker or container ship to build an aircraft carrier? In addition to VTOL aircraft, such an "ersatz aircraft carrier" will be able to take helicopters onto the deck, turning into a powerful anti-submarine ship - after all, the helicopter sees farther than any ship's GAS, and a dozen helicopters are capable of providing round-the-clock surveillance. At first glance, a very cheap and effective system turns out to be completely unacceptable in practice - the cost of re-equipping such an "aircraft carrier" will be a fabulous sum, while the ship will have limited characteristics. If you limit yourself to minimal alterations. the result will be even worse. Permanent storage of aircraft on the upper deck will ruin the helicopters, and the survivability of such a "wunderwaffe" will be unacceptably low.
A similar incident is known in history, which ended tragically. When the smell of fried in the Falklands, British sailors urgently needed to deliver an additional batch of aircraft 12,000 km from their home shores. A civilian container ship Atlantic Conveyor, requisitioned from the owners under the STUFT program (Motherland is in danger!), Was chosen for the transportation of responsible cargo. The ship was prepared for the cruise in record time - ten days. A helipad and a shield covering the deck in front of the incoming air currents were mounted in the bow. Further, in order to somehow protect the equipment on the upper deck from the harmful effects of the sea, containers with equipment were placed along the edges of the deck. These are perhaps all the changes visible to the naked eye. The container ship was loaded with 8 Sea Harriers of the Navy, 6 Harriers in the land version, as well as 6 Wessex helicopters and 5 heavy transport CH-47 Chinooks. In addition, on board there was a large supply of aviation fuel, spare parts, a batch of tents and materials for equipment of the field airfield. The deck was so densely packed with equipment that there was no question of any performance of combat missions on board the ship. The Atlantic Conveyor served only as an air transport.
On May 25, 1982, all this property was ingloriously drowned in the cold waves of the South Atlantic. By some miracle, a pair of Argentine Super-Etandar planes with anti-ship missiles reached the British formation - the only serviceable KS-130 tanker aircraft provided the raid on the British ships going far in the open ocean, there was no precise target designation at all. A couple of hours before these events, the same KS-130 was fueled by A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft, which bombed Her Majesty's destroyer Coventry. Then the Argentines were incredibly lucky - some of the bombs did not explode, and one plane could not drop the bomb load at all, due to the poor technical condition … nevertheless, the task was completed without losses. The sea loves the desperate.
The operation of the Super Etandarov radar was detected by the equipment of the Exeter destroyer, which immediately notified the squadron of a missile attack. The British had 6 minutes to respond. Time dragged on for an agonizingly long time. The battleships began setting up clouds from the dipole reflectors. Helicopters took to the air to set false targets to protect the most important ships - the aircraft carriers Hermes and Invincible. The only one left without cover was the Atlantic Conveyor air transport. The ship lacked any self-defense systems, as well as jamming devices. The only thing he could do was turn aft in the direction of a dangerous direction. And at that very moment, the ship received two Exocets in the stern.
For the British, it looks like a nightmare - fires, explosions of stacks of bombs, the death of 12 people. Despite the efforts made, the fire was out of control. 130 people chose to leave the ship by storm ladders and settled on life rafts. The charred box of the Atlantic Conveyor sank a few days later.
How a real aircraft carrier is built
Because it is not possible to resolve the issue of rebuilding a container ship into an effective aircraft carrier, let's see how a classic nuclear aircraft carrier is being created. In this part I want to share with the reader the most interesting facts. The construction of a ship with a displacement of 100,000 tons always arouses genuine interest among those who are interested in the Navy. There are many interesting moments and professional subtleties in the construction process.
Enchanting action takes place on 220 hectares of land at the mouth of the James River. It is home to the elite shipyard Newport News, owned by Nortrop Grumman. On the territory there are seven dry docks, a floating dry dock, seven berths for the completion of ships and a plant for the manufacture of ship sections. The main object is dry dock No. 12, measuring 662 x 76 meters. The dock is serviced by a 900 ton gantry crane operating in the dry dock and work area. Crane height - 71 m, span length - 165 m.
An aircraft carrier of the "Nimitz" type is assembled from 161 ready-made sections weighing from 100 to 865 tons. The hull of the aircraft carrier is divided into 24 compartments by watertight bulkheads, reaching the height of the hangar deck. In total, the "Nimitz" has 7 decks. Bulkheads and decks divide the hull into more than 200 compartments. The ship's hull is welded, the supporting structures and the flight deck are made of armored steel up to 200 mm thick.
The Nimitz AB has an angled flight deck. The deck structure is made of removable steel sheets, which makes it possible to replace damaged areas in the shortest possible time. The flight deck consists of take-off, landing and park sections.
The take-off section is equipped with four C-13 type steam catapults (weight 180 tons, length 95 m). Deck panels in the take-off area are cooled by seawater, which helps to prevent them from heating up under the influence of hot exhaust from aircraft engines.
In the park area, where aircraft is based during takeoff and landing operations, there are 4 lifts, elevators for ammunition supply, refueling stations and posts that provide aircraft with fuel, electricity, oxygen, as well as two special exits to the flight deck for flight crews. In order to avoid the repetition of large fires on the flight deck (the consequences of the emergency on the Forrestal and Enterprise in the 60s), there is a system for irrigating the deck with seawater - when it is turned on, the ship turns into Niagara Falls.
The gallery deck serves to reinforce the side sections of the flight deck. It houses a complex of command and flagship premises, control posts for aviation equipment, cabins and crew quarters.
In the bow of the aircraft carrier there are two intermediate decks on which catapults are mounted, a platform for crew boats and life rafts, workshops and storerooms.
Hangar deck. Most of the main deck of the ship is reserved for stowage, maintenance and repair of aircraft. In order to localize potential fires in the hangar, there are three fire-resistant curtains. In addition, it is equipped with a sprinkler fire extinguishing system throughout the entire area.
Below, on three decks below, there are aircraft lift mechanisms, medical rooms, cockpits and dining rooms for privates and non-commissioned officers. There is also a post of energy and vitality.
Below is the hold deck, where aviation fuel tanks, bunkers for storing ammunition, storerooms and spare parts, freezers, etc. are located.
Aviation fuel is stored in tanks surrounded by cofferdams. Cofferdams (narrow impermeable compartments) are filled with inert gas. Fuel, as it is consumed, is replaced by seawater. The widespread opinion that an aircraft carrier is a fire-hazardous ship, saturated to the limit with fuel and combustible materials, is not entirely correct. Yes, aviation fuel reserves are huge - 8500 tons of kerosene. But if we consider this number in relation to the size of the ship, then it becomes clear that the fuel on the aircraft carrier is even less, in%, than on a conventional cruiser or destroyer!
For example, the British destroyer type 45 ("Daring") has a total displacement of about 8000 tons. At the same time, 1100 tons of fuel are pumped into its fuel tanks, most of which is aviation kerosene for a gas turbine plant. Although, this is of little importance: diesel fuel and kerosene burn equally well when a fuel tank is hit with a red-hot blank (a fragment, a missile warhead, etc.).
For safety reasons, aviation ammunition cellars are located below the waterline and are ready for flooding. The mass of the aircraft carrier "Nimitz" ammunition is 1954 tons.
The main power plant of the ship is echeloned and housed in four watertight compartments. The bow compartments of each echelon are reserved for a nuclear steam generating installation, and the stern compartments are for the main tube-toothed units.
The surface structural protection of aircraft carriers of the Nimitz type consists of three armored decks of the flight, hangar and third. Onboard underwater protection covers the areas of reactor compartments, ammunition storage and aviation fuel storage. It reaches the third deck and protects the ship from hydrodynamic shocks - the consequences of mine and torpedo explosions. Onboard underwater protection is formed by compartments that are alternately filled with water or fuel. From the bottom side, the aircraft carrier is protected by an armored unsinkable deck.
The superstructure of an “island” -type aircraft carrier consists of seven tiers, on which there are a flagship command post, a running, operational and navigational wheelhouse, a flight control center, posts of radar operators and radio operators, as well as a commander's and admiral's cabins.
