Illustrious spent the next few months carrying out raids in the Mediterranean and covering the evacuation of Greece. The attack, carried out on a shoestring compared to the great raids of the Pacific War, nevertheless managed to sink or heavily damage three Italian battleships. Illustrious’ first major achievement came in November 1940, when her Swordfish torpedo bombers attacked the battleships of the Italian navy at anchor at Taranto. Displacing 23,000 tons, Illustrious could make 30 knots and carrying 36 aircraft. Laid down in 1937, Illustrious traded aircraft complement for an armored deck, an innovation that would make the ship more robust than her Japanese or American counterparts. HMS Illustrious and her three sisters filled the gap.
Enterprise was the most decorated ship in any navy during World War II, but sadly post-war preservation efforts failed, and the carrier was scrapped in 1960.īetween September 1939 and April 1942, the Royal Navy lost five of its seven pre-war aircraft carriers. Returning to service just as the war ended, she helped return American soldiers to the United States in Operation Magic Carpet. She served in the final raids against Japan in 1945 until a kamikaze caused critical damage in May.
Enterprise fought at Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf, helping to destroy the heart of Japanese naval aviation. Later in the war, Enterprise operated with the growing American carrier fleet as it formed core of the counter-offensive that would roll up Japanese possessions in the Pacific. She filled a crucial role during the Battles of Guadalcanal, surviving several near-catastrophic Japanese attacks. She escorted Hornet on the Doolittle Raid, then helped sink four Japanese flattops at the Battle of Midway. She helped search for the Japanese fleet in the wake of Pearl Harbor, and carried out the first reprisal raids in the early months of the war. While both Hornet and Yorktown were lost in the carrier battles of 1942, Enterprise served throughout the entire war. The F-35 is the ultimate example–considering the massive cost–of this important military asset having clear staying power (the only debate at this point is whether it will be manned or unmanned).
Yet, one thing is clear: Bombers can still make or break any conflict that could occur now or in the future.Īnd fighter jets are not going anywhere. Some we don’t know much about, like Russia’s Su-57.
Some are just getting started, like the B-21 Raider. Whether it is to exercise sea control, deter an enemy with underwater nuclear weapons or ensure you have the ability to strike with various types of conventional weapons like cruise missiles on land, subs seem to be only gaining in prominence. Let the debate begin – In today’s world, where every day it seems a new piece of military technology is poised to take over the battlefield and make everything else obsolete, there are several weapons of war that seem to have some staying power.Īircraft carriers, while some may consider them obsolete, remain one of the ultimate ways to display national power and prestige, with the unique capability to attack targets from the world’s seas with deadly accuracy. Here we present the 20 Best Aircraft Carriers, Bombers, Submarines, And Fighter Jets on the planet today.
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