Editing Flight deck (section)

==Evolution==
[[File:USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4) 01-18-1911 - NARA - 520791.jpg|thumb|right|Eugene Ely's first landing, on the armored cruiser USS ''Pennsylvania'']]

===Early===
The first flight [[Deck (ship)|decks]] were inclined wooden ramps built over the [[forecastle]] of warships. [[Eugene Ely]] made the [[Naval aviation|first fixed-wing aircraft take-off from a warship]] from {{USS|Birmingham|CL-2|6}} on 14 November 1910.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

Two months later, on 18 January 1911, Ely landed his Curtiss pusher plane on a platform on {{USS|Pennsylvania|ACR-4|2}} anchored in [[San Francisco Bay]] using the first [[tailhook]] system, designed and built by circus performer and aviator Hugh Robinson. Ely told a reporter: "It was easy enough. I think the trick could be successfully turned nine times out of ten." On 9 May 1912,<ref>{{cite newspaper The Times |title=Flight From the Hibernia |date=10 May 1912 |page=8 |issue=39895 |column=3}}</ref> Commander [[Charles Rumney Samson|Charles Samson]] became the first man to take off from a ship which was underway when he flew his [[Short S.27]] off {{HMS|Hibernia|1905|6}}, which was steaming at {{convert|10.5|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}}.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

Because the take-off speed of early aircraft was so low, it was possible for an aircraft to make a very short take off when the launching ship was steaming into the wind. Later, removable "flying-off platforms" appeared on the gun turrets of [[battleship]]s and [[battlecruiser]]s starting with {{HMS|Repulse|1916|6}}, allowing aircraft to be flown off for scouting purposes, although there was no chance of recovery.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

On 2 August 1917, while performing trials, Squadron Commander [[Edwin Harris Dunning]] landed a [[Sopwith Pup]] successfully on board the flying-off platform of {{HMS|Furious|47|6}}, becoming the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship. However, on his third attempt, a tire burst as he attempted to land, causing the aircraft to go over the side, killing him; thus Dunning also has the dubious distinction of being the first person to die in an aircraft carrier landing accident.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

The landing arrangements on ''Furious'' were highly unsatisfactory. In order to land, aircraft had to maneuver around the superstructure. ''Furious'' was therefore returned to dockyard hands to have a {{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} deck added aft for landing, on top of a new hangar. The central superstructure remained, however, and turbulence caused by it badly affected the landing deck.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

===Full length===
[[File:HMS Argus (1917).jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Argus|1917|6}} showing the full-length flight deck from bow to stern]]
[[File:시승함인 독도함의 모습과 해상사열을 참관중인 국민 참관단의 모습 (1) (22055340289).jpg|thumb|[[ROKS Dokdo|ROKS ''Dokdo'']]'s full length flight deck]]
The first aircraft carrier that began to show the configuration of the modern vessel was the converted liner {{HMS|Argus|1917|6}}, which had a large flat wooden deck added over the entire length of the hull, giving a combined landing and take-off deck unobstructed by superstructure turbulence. Because of her unobstructed flight deck, ''Argus'' had no fixed [[conning tower]] and no funnel. Rather, exhaust gases were trunked down the side of the ship and ejected under the fantail of the flight deck (which, despite arrangements to disperse the gases, gave an unwelcome "lift" to aircraft immediately prior to landing). 

The lack of a command position and funnel was unsatisfactory, and ''Argus'' was used to experiment with various ideas to remedy the solution. A photograph in 1917 shows her with a canvas mock-up of a starboard "island" superstructure and funnel. This was placed on the starboard side because the [[rotary engine]]s of some early aircraft created [[torque]] which pulled the nose left, meaning an aircraft naturally [[Yaw, pitch, and roll|yawed]] to port on take-off; therefore, it was desirable that they turned away from the fixed superstructure. This became the typical aircraft carrier arrangement and was used in the next [[United Kingdom|British]] carriers, {{HMS|Hermes|95|2}} and {{HMS|Eagle|1918|2}}.

After [[World War I]], [[battlecruiser]]s that otherwise would have been discarded under the [[Washington Naval Treaty]]—such as the British {{HMS|Furious|47|6}} and {{sclass|Courageous|aircraft carrier|4}}, the American {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|6}} and {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}}, and the Japanese [[Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi|''Akagi'']] and battleship [[Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga|''Kaga'']]—were converted to carriers along the above lines. Being large and fast they were perfectly suited to this role; the heavy armoring and [[scantling]]s and low speed of the converted battleship ''Eagle'' served to be something of a handicap in practice. 

Because the military effectiveness of aircraft carriers was then unknown, early ships were typically equipped with cruiser-calibre guns to aid in their defense if surprised by enemy warships. These guns were generally removed in [[World War II]] and replaced with [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft gun]]s, as carrier doctrine developed the "task force" (later called "battle group") model, where the carrier's defense against surface ships would be a combination of escorting warships and its own aircraft.

In ships of this configuration, the hangar deck was the strength deck and an integral part of the hull, and the hangar and light steel flight deck were considered to be part of the superstructure. Such ships were still being built into the late 1940s, classic examples being the U.S. Navy's {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|5}} and {{sclass|Ticonderoga|aircraft carrier|0}} carriers. However, in 1936, the [[Royal Navy]] began construction of the {{sclass|Illustrious|aircraft carrier|4}}. 

In these ships, the flight deck was the strength deck, an integral part of the hull, and was heavily armored to protect the ship and her air complement. The flight deck as the strength deck was adopted for later construction. This was necessitated by the ever-increasing size of the ships, from the 13,000&nbsp;[[Tonnage|ton]] {{USS|Langley|CV-1|6}} in 1922 to over 100,000&nbsp;tons in the latest {{sclass|Nimitz|aircraft carrier|0}} and {{sclass|Gerald R. Ford|aircraft carrier|0}} carriers.

===Armored===
{{Main|Armoured flight deck }}

When aircraft carriers supplanted battleships as the primary fleet capital ship, there were two schools of thought on the question of armor protection being included into the flight deck. The [[United States Navy]] (USN) initially favored unarmored flight decks because they maximized aircraft carrier hangar and flight deck size, which in turn maximized aircraft capacity in the hangar, and on the flight deck, in the form of a permanent "deck park" for a large proportion of the aircraft carried.<ref>{{cite book |title=American and British Aircraft Carrier Development, 1919-1941 |first1=Thomas C. |last1=Hone |first2=Norman |last2=Friedman |first3=Mark D. |last3=Mandeles|author1-link=Thomas C. Hone |author2-link=Norman Friedman |location=Annapolis, Maryland |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1999 |isbn=9781557503824 |page=125}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=USS ''Bennington'' |title=Action Report, Operations in Support Of The Occupation Of Okinawa Including Strike Against [[Kanoya Airfield]], Kyushu. 28 May to 10 June 1945 |page=18 |quote=On June 5, 1945, USS ''Bennington'' reported that her maximum hangar capacity was 51 aircraft, 15 SB2Cs and 36 F4Us, and that 52 were carried as a deck park. At that time she carried 15 TBMs, 15 SB2Cs and the rest were a mix of F6Fs and F4Us. She was prompted to utilize, and report on, her maximum hangar storage due to a Typhoon}}</ref> 

In 1936 the Royal Navy developed the armored flight deck aircraft carrier which also enclosed the hangar sides and ends with armor. The addition of armor to the flight deck offered aircraft below some protection against aerial bombs while the armored hangar sides and ends helped to minimize damage and casualties from explosions or fires within or outside the hangar.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Eadon |editor-first=Stuart |title=Kamikaze, The Story of the British Pacific Fleet |publisher=Worcester |year=1991 |isbn=1-872017-23-1 |pages=338–339 |quote=In nine [[kamikaze]] strikes "...The Fleet Air Arm suffered...44 personnel killed...By contrast {{USS|Bunker Hill|CV-17|2}} lost 387 dead in the Kamikaze attack on 11 May 1945."}}</ref> The addition of armor to the hangar forced a reduction in top-weight, so the hangar height was reduced, and this restricted the types of aircraft that these ships could carry, although the [[Royal Navy]]'s armored carriers did carry spare aircraft in the hangar overheads.<ref>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=John |title=British Warships of the Second World War |location=London, UK |publisher=Chatham Publications |year=2000 |page=62 |isbn=9781861761316}}</ref> 

The armor also reduced the length of the flight deck, reducing the maximum aircraft capacity of the armored flight deck aircraft carrier. Additionally, Royal Navy aircraft carriers did not use a permanent deck park until approximately 1943; before then the aircraft capacity of RN aircraft carriers was limited to their hangar capacity. 

The 23,000-ton British {{sclass|Illustrious|aircraft carrier|4}} had a hangar capacity for 36 [[Fairey Swordfish|Swordfish]]-sized aircraft and a single {{convert|458|x|62|x|16|ft|m|adj=on}} hangar, but carried up to 57<ref>{{citation |last=Brown |first=David |title=Warship Profile No. 11: HMS ''Illustrious'' Aircraft Carrier 1939–1956, Operational History |location=Windsor, Berkshire |publisher=Profile Publications |year=1971 |page=257 |quote=42 F4U Corsairs and 15 Fairey Barracudas}}</ref> aircraft with a permanent deck park, while the 23,400-ton {{sclass|Implacable|aircraft carrier|4}} featured increased hangar capacity with a {{convert|458|x|62|x|14|ft|m|adj=on}} upper hangar and the addition of a {{convert|208|x|62|x|14|ft|m|adj=on}} lower hangar, forward of the after elevator, which had a total capacity of 52 Swordfish-sized aircraft or a mix of 48 late-war aircraft in the hangar plus 24 aircraft in a permanent deck park,<ref>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=John |title=British Warships of the Second World War |location=London, UK |publisher=Chatham Publications |year=2000 |page=61 |isbn=9781861761316}}</ref> but carried up to 81 aircraft with a deck park.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Carrier-Raids_Home-Islands.htm |title=Order of Battle - Carrier Raids on the Home Islands : 24-28 July 1945 |first=Daniel |last=Muir |work=NavWeaps |year=2004 |access-date=9 November 2015 |quote=HMS ''Implacable'': 48 Seafires, 21 Avengers and 12 Fireflies}}</ref> 

The 27,500-ton USN {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|4}} had a {{convert|654|x|70|x|17.5|ft|m|adj=on}} hangar that was designed to handle a mix of 72 prewar USN aircraft.<ref>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=John |title=The Aircraft Carrier Intrepid |location=London, UK |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |year=1982 |isbn=9780851772516}}</ref> but carried up to 104 late-war aircraft using both the hangar and a permanent deck park.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Carrier-Raids_Home-Islands.htm |title=Order of Battle - Carrier Raids on the Home Islands : 24-28 July 1945 |first=Daniel |last=Muir |work=NavWeaps |year=2004 |access-date=9 November 2015 |quote=USS ''Bennington'': 37 Hellcats, 37 Corsairs, 15 Helldivers and 15 Avengers}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Francillon |first=René |title=US Navy Carrier Airgroups Pacific, 1941-1945 |location=London |publisher=Osprey Press |year=1978 |isbn=9780850452914}}</ref>  The experience of World War II caused the USN to change their design policy in favor of armored flight decks on much larger ships: "The main armor carried on {{USS|Enterprise|CVN-65|2}} is the heavy armored flight deck. This was to prove a significant factor in the [[USS Enterprise fire|catastrophic fire and explosions]] that occurred on ''Enterprise''{{'}}s flight deck in 1969. The US Navy learned its lesson the hard way during [[World War II]] when all its carriers had only armored hangar decks.  All attack carriers built since the {{sclass|Midway|aircraft carrier|4}} have had armored flight decks."<ref>{{citation |last=Cracknell |first=William H. |title=Warship Profile No. 15: USS ''Enterprise'' (CVAN 65) Nuclear Attack Carrier |location=Windsor, Berkshire |publisher=Profile Publications |year=1972 |page=56}}</ref>