At 9 o’clock on April 26, the launching ceremony began with the majestic national anthem. According to international practice, the ribbon-cutting ceremony is followed by a "bottle throwing ceremony". As a bottle of champagne smashed the bow of the ship, colorful ribbons were sprayed on both sides, and the surrounding ships whistled together, and the audience applauded warmly. The aircraft carrier slowly moved out of the dock and docked at the dock under the traction.
The second aircraft carrier was developed by China itself, started construction in November 2013, and started dock construction in March 2015. At present, the construction of the main hull of the aircraft carrier has been completed, and the main system equipment such as power and electricity have been installed in place. Docking and launching is one of the major nodes in aircraft carrier construction, which indicates that China has made great achievements in independently designing and building aircraft carriers. In the next step, the aircraft carrier will carry out system equipment debugging and outfitting construction as planned, and conduct mooring tests in an all-round way.
In March this year, the Indian Navy’s "Vilat" aircraft carrier was officially retired. Since India bought it from Britain in May 1987, Vilat has been in service for 30 years. Together with its previous 27 years in the Royal Navy, Vilat actually served for 57 years, making it the longest-serving aircraft carrier in the world.
In July last year, after completing the maintenance at Cochin Shipyard, the aircraft carrier Vilat, escorted by three Neptune helicopters, set sail for the last voyage in its service career as a farewell ceremony before retiring.
In March 2017, the Japanese helicopter destroyer Kaga entered service. Exactly two years ago, Kaga’s sister ship, the helicopter destroyer Izumo, officially entered service. The "Izumo" class helicopter destroyer is regarded as Japan’s "disguised aircraft carrier" by the outside world because of its unique performance.
According to the performance, both Izumo and Kaga are Izumo class destroyers, and the number of destroyers in Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is 22 DDH and 24 DDH respectively.
Both are "Izumo class" destroyers, and the basic performance indicators of the two ships are highly consistent. According to public data, the Izumo class destroyer has a standard displacement of 19,500 tons, a total length of 248 meters, a width of 38 meters, a draft of 7.1 meters, a maximum speed of 30 knots and 520 crew members. Ship-borne helicopters include SH-60J/K anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft, MCH-101 mine-sweeping and transport aircraft, etc. They can carry up to 14 helicopters and take off and land 5 at the same time.
Since its service in 1997, Thailand’s "Chakri Narubei" aircraft carrier has not participated in combat missions, and its time in Hong Kong has far exceeded the sea time, almost becoming a huge "decoration".
However, "Chakri Narubei" met Thailand’s specific military needs in a specific period and achieved the established goal of the Thai military to purchase a maritime military platform.
Earlier this month, the American aircraft carrier Gerald Ford completed the sea test and arrived at Norfolk Naval Base. The "Ford" aircraft carrier is the first ship of a new generation of aircraft carriers in the United States, and it is also the most advanced aircraft carrier in the world. At the same time, it has become the most expensive aircraft carrier with a cost of 12.9 billion US dollars.
The ship started construction in 2005 and was launched in November 2013. It is expected to officially enter service this summer, and its name is in memory of former US President Gerald Ford.
According to data from the US military, the Ford is 76 meters high, 337 meters long and 78 meters wide. The whole deck is equivalent to three standard football fields connected end to end. The full-load displacement reaches 100,000 tons, the maximum speed exceeds 30 knots, and the crew is 2,628, equipped with improved sea sparrow missiles, Ram missiles and short-range defense weapon systems.
The Soviet-Russian aircraft carrier dominated in the 1970s and 1980s, but the situation changed. After going through ups and downs, only the "Kuznetsov Admiral of the fleet" (hereinafter referred to as "Kuznetsov") is left.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet aircraft carrier construction won the "golden age". Four Kiev-class aircraft carriers Kiev, Minsk, Novorossiysk and Baku, as well as the aircraft carriers Kuznetsov and Varyag, which have completed important improvements, were launched successively. The disintegration of the Soviet Union brought about a great turning point in the fate of the above-mentioned aircraft carrier. "Kiev" and "Minsk" came to China as tourist facilities; "Varyag" and "Baku" were sold to China and India respectively after large-scale transformation; "Novorossiysk" was sold to a Korean company for about $4.3 million and was dismantled; Only the Kuznetsov was incorporated into the Russian Northern Fleet.
The "Kuznetsov" launched in 1985, even when Russia’s economic situation was depressed, still got the necessary maintenance and equipment renewal, and insisted on sailing to the oceans around the world.
Not all aircraft carriers are favored by heaven, and sometimes they have "bad luck".
After the end of World War II, the then US President Truman approved the construction of the "United States" aircraft carrier. On April 18th, 1949, newport news Shipyard in the United States began to lay the keel, but only five days later, Louis Johnson, then US Secretary of Defense, flatly issued the order to cancel the construction of the aircraft carrier in order to save military expenses.
Compared with the "United States" that was "strangled" before it was born, Japan’s "Nobuhiro" sank to the bottom of the sea on its maiden voyage, and it did not lose the "United States" in bad luck.