The aircraft carrier- mightiest weapon in
any navy's arsenal and uncontested ruler of the high seas. But it wasn't always this way, and when they
were first developed aircraft carriers were more a curiosity than a real weapon of war. Hello, and welcome to another episode of The
Infographics Show- today we're taking a look at the evolution, history, and some things
you might never have known in 50 Surprising Facts About Aircraft Carriers. 50. Aircraft carriers are basically floating airfields,
so they're a little hard to hide. But in World War II the Japanese did just
that, developing three submersible aircraft carriers that could carry three planes each
and cruise just below the waves! Innovative, but ultimately ineffective, they
had little impact in the war. 49. US supercarriers are called that for a reason-
one US supercarrier has a larger air force than 70% of all countries in the world! 48. The US Navy has over 2,000 aircraft- which
makes it by itself the world's fourth largest air force after China and before India. 47. The French have an aircraft carrier named
after Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch, who in 1911 was quoted as saying “Airplanes
are interesting toys, but of no military value”. 46. Brazilian shipbrokers once tried to sell a
retired aircraft carrier, the HMS Vengeance, on Ebay for 7 million dollars. 45. The US Navy's newest class of aircraft carrier-
the Gerald R. Ford Class- costs $7 million dollars a day to operate. 44. The initial price tag of a Ford class carrier
is $18 billion dollars, making it the most expensive war ship ever built. 43. Despite being known as having the most technologically
advanced military on earth, the Ford class is the US's first new aircraft carrier in
over 40 years! 42. The Ford class carriers were all designed
using a 3 dimensional model, with hundreds of designers, engineers, and planners logging
on and working on creating the ship's features from inside the model every single day. 41. Ford class carriers are 1093 feet (333 meters)
long and displace 100,000 tons- about the same size as the Nimitz class they are replacing,
but they will carry up to 900 less crew thanks to automation. 40. Each Ford class carrier carries up to 90 aircraft,
and can launch a maximum of 220 sorties per day. 39. A single Ford class carrier has over 9,800,000
feet (3,000,000 meters) of electrical wiring! 38. Ford class carriers aren't just the ultimate
guardians of the ocean- they're also committed to keeping them clean. All of the solid waste generated by its crew
of about 4200 sailors will be vaporized with superheated plasma! 37. A nuclear powered aircraft carrier can operate
for more than 20 years without refueling. 36. Besides the US only one other nation has ever
built a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier: France. 35. China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning,
was originally a decommissioned Soviet carrier which China bought from Ukraine via a front
company pretending to want to use the carrier as a floating casino. 34. While filming Top Gun, director Tony Scott
paid the US Navy $25,000 to have the aircraft carrier turn for one shot in the film so he
could have the sun backlight it. 33. Due to materials shortages during World War
II, the British experimented with, and had serious plans to build an aircraft carrier
primarily made out of wood pulp and ice. 32. In the 1970s the US Air Force experimented
with plans to build an airborne aircraft carrier from a Boeing 747. 31. In 1929 Tacoma Washington got most of its
power from hydroelectric dams- but when a drought severely lowered water levels, an
aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington, helped power the city for a month. 30. On 7 May 1957, while docked in Sydney, Australia,
a group of University of Sydney students secretly boarded the USS Bennington and successfully
made their way to the bridge, where they turned on the PA and announced that the ship had
been captured by Sydney University pirates. 29. In World War II the Japanese Imperial Navy
aircraft carrier Shinano was the largest carrier ever built up to that time, and was sunk 10
days into her maiden voyage by the US Navy submarine Archerfish. The Shinano remains the largest warship ever
sunk by a submarine. 28. An aircraft carrier can desalinate 400,000
gallons of sea water every day. 27. Today there are actually several varieties
of aircraft carriers on active duty across the world's militaries, they include: amphibious
assault carriers, escort carriers, anti-submarine carriers, helicopter carriers, light aircraft
carriers, and super carriers. 26. Airplanes can't take off from an aircraft
carrier unless the carrier is moving at around 30 knots so that the wind generated can help
them gain lift. 25. The catapults that help launch airplanes into
the air can accelerate a plane from 0 to 186 mph (300 kmh) in under 2 seconds, and pilots
describe the feeling as “being punched in the face”. 24. Supercarriers can cover an area of 4.5 acres,
or several city blocks. They are longer than most buildings are tall. 23. An aircraft carrier is powered by up to four
propellers that measure 20 feet (6 meters) across and weigh up to 30 tons. 22. Each aircraft carrier in the US Navy is designed
to last for 50 years. Ford class carriers are designed to be modular
in nature, leaving room for future technology and could have a lifetime of up to 75 years. 21. To land on a carrier a pilot needs to snag
one of four arresting wires with his plane's tailhook, but because the runway is so short
pilots actually have to accelerate their aircraft at full throttle the moment they touch down
in case they missed a wire so they don't go crashing into the ocean at the end of the
runway. 20. Each arresting wire is made of extremely high
tensile steel and can stop a 54,000 pound (24,494 lbs) aircraft going 149 mph (240 kph)
in just two seconds! 19. In 2016 an arresting wire snapped aboard the
US carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower while attempting to bring an E-2C Hawkeye to a stop- the snapped
wire sped across the deck and injured eight sailors, resulting in broken bones and a cracked
skull. 18. Pilots say that landing on a moving carrier
in the middle of night amidst a pitching sea is about the scariest thing a person can do. 17. A miniature city, each aircraft carrier has
multiple decks where it can do everything from house crew to repair aircraft and store
missiles and bombs- basically making them self-sufficient air forces. 16. At the end of their service lives aircraft
carriers are either completely refitted and modernized before being put back to sea or
sold to friendly nations. Rarely they might be scrapped completely. 15. Aircraft carriers typically conduct strike
missions, air superiority patrols, anti-submarine patrols, air traffic control, and airborne
early warning missions- often all of them simultaneously! 14. Nuclear carriers are powered by nuclear reactors
which produce heat through nuclear fission- which in turn boils water and generates steam
which creates electricity. In essence, nuclear carriers are actually
steam-powered and their engineering would be familiar to any mechanic from the Industrial
Revolution! 13. A Nimitz class carrier is powered by two nuclear
reactors and delivers 260,000 horsepower to four propellers. 12. Nimitz class carriers each cost about $4.5
billion- or 1/4th the price of a single Ford class carrier. 11. C-130 Hercules aircraft are some of the largest
transport planes in the world- and can both take off and land on a modern supercarrier! 10. France is the only other nation besides the
US with a Supercarrier. 9. The Navy's 10 current supercarriers all have
900 aircraft between them. 8. Aircraft carriers are the most powerful weapons
in the world. In 1990 US President Bill Clinton famously
remarked, “When word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident that the first
question that comes to everyone's lips is, 'where is the nearest carrier?'” 7. Aircraft carriers are considered sovereign
territory for the nation they belong to- even when docked. 6. Carriers are never deployed alone, but work
while leading a battlegroup of at least six ships. A typical US battlegroup consists of at least
one destroyer, one frigate, two attack submarines, two guided missile cruisers, one guided missile
destroyer, and a logistical support ship. 5. A US battlegroup has more firepower at its
disposal than most militaries on earth. 4. During the Cold War the Soviet Union considered
American battlegroups such a dire threat that they predicted the only way to defend against
them would be by use of tactical nuclear weapons, risking an escalation to full-blown nuclear
war. 3. A US carrier air wing consists of three squadrons
of F/A-18 Hornets for air superiority and ground attack, one squadron of F-14 tomcats
for fleet air defense and ground attack, one squadron of S-3B Vikings for airborne refueling,
command and control, electronic warfare and surveillance, one squadron of EA-6B Prowlers
for electronic warfare, one squadron of E-2C Hawkeyes for long-range early warning and
control, and one squadron of SH-60 Seahawk helicopters for anti-submarine warfare, general
utility, and assault operations 2. The flight crew of a Nimitz class carrier
can launch two aircraft while simultaneously landing a third every 37 seconds during daylight,
and every 60 seconds at night. 1. At 11:01 AM on January 18th, 1911, US pilot
Eugene Ely landed a Curtiss Pusher aircraft on a specially built platform aboard the USS
Pennsylvania, thus birthing the concept of an aircraft carrier. Know any other cool or amazing facts about
aircraft carriers? What kind of innovations will the future see
for these incredible weapons of war? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
called 50 Surprising Facts About World War 1! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!”
