Why Does US Navy Have Two Types of Aircraft Carriers?

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it's disappointing that amphibious assault ships can't crawl on land. :(

One of the main reasons why USA has the amphibious assault ships is because some countries wont let carriers anywhere near their facilities and ports. One example of this is the Turkey Bospherous Strait. Turkey wont let aircraft carriers go through the Bospherous Strait but navies have found a loophole by changing the classification of the ship. So now America can get "aircraft carriers" through the Bospherous by just sending the assault ships. Its the same technique the Russians used with their aircraft carrier Kuznetsov. Edit - the policy that forbids aircraft carriers passage through the Bospherous Strait is called the Montreux Convention if anyone was interested.

While there are many practical reasons for having SuperCarriers - longer missions without resupply, faster deployment and retrieval of aircraft, ability to command an entire Battlegroup in the field etc - I think theres another big factor to consider: pure intimidation. Just imagine how much destructive force the SuperCarrier could dole out over the span of two weeks (and that’s 24/7 btw) by itself. Now add 4 Destroyers and a couple nuclear submarines (that you can’t even see, but have to assume they’re there). Even the staunchest of military commanders would be hella nervous to engage such a beast.

Got a lift to Iraq on an LHD, the USS Bataan. While not as large, the LHDs are still insanely big and can carry thousands of troops and their equipment. Even rode to the beach on an LCAC. A carrier can show up and turn a small country into a parking lot, but the LHD is a clown car full of nutjobs that can come and knock on your door 😂 M.A.R.I.N.E. = MY ASS RIDES IN NAVY EQUIPMENT lol thanks for the lift shipmates!

Just a few things. I spent 5 years on the USS Essex LHD-2. As far as speed goes, they are rated at 70,000 Shaft Horsepower, compared to the Nimitz class at 260,000 hp. The Nimitz is rated around 32 knots where the Wasp class is rated 22+. With that being said, the Essex heading west towards Hawaii in 1994 maintained 26 knots for 24 hours, got the wounded Sailor from a submarine and then we headed back east towards San Diego for about 20 hours at 26 knots getting within range of a CH-53E to Naval Hospital Balboa and flew him there. That's not the fastest I saw her do, but that's the fastest for the longest time I saw her sail! (and we used A LOT of fuel doing it)!

Fun Fact: Japanese Helicopter Carrying Destroyer Kaga have similar length as the WW2 Japanese Carrier Kaga.

"You definitely get more bush if you've got a bigger trunk" I nearly spit out my coffee when I literally laughed out loud.

I’ve always thought of it as the WWII designations. Amphibious Assault Ships are Light/Escort Carriers with the Supercarriers being like the Fleet Carriers.

These amphibious assault ships are about the same size of the old Essex class carriers which were the biggest during WW2.

The LHA is like reintroducing the concept of light aircraft carriers that was in use in WW2.

Please make a video about the US Cruiser. They tend to fade out from time to time, replaced by the Battleship, Aircraft Carrier, and now the Destroyer. We would love to hear about the Ticonderoga class.

I don’t leave a “like” nearly enough for the amount of entertainment and useful information I consistently receive from this channel. Thank you for the hard work, consistency, and depths to which you dive in order to make these videos as informative and entertaining as possible!

I chuckled when you said LHDs opt to replenish in port rather than at sea. We did UNREPS once a week when I was deployed on an LHD and only hit 5 ports in 9 months.

Correction: larger ships aren’t more efficient than smaller ships, they’re more efficient per ton of loaded displacement, but only I’d they have the same hull form (LHAs and Nimitz are similar but not identical). Ignoring bow and stern shape, a longer displacement hull is faster for the same power and displacement, and a narrower hull is too (these are usually related) - that’s how the Iowa-class battleships were so fast.

The LHA’s America and Tripoli are Flight 0 designs of the class. It’s already been decided it wasn’t the best idea since this had been tried before (lots online about this). Every LHA from this point forward will be Flight 1 designations which will have the well decks again.

The invasion of Afghanistan by sea was insane. Is there any other military in history that could possibly have contemplated an amphibious assault on a landlocked nation?

Thank you for these videos, and the immense amount of work that goes into producing them!

The main reason for the different type of carrier for amphibious operations came from the Guadalcanal operations in WW2. Since the US had only one or two operational carriers, they understandably pulled their carriers back after the marines landed. The Marines still needed naval support. That's when the concept of a light carrier or CVE and Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) were developed. They could support the Marines while the main naval battle group can deal with the Japanese fleet.

Awesome video! Always love how much information are in your video. Keep up the great work as always