Sunken US Navy Aircraft Carriers (And Their Current Location)

Sunken US Navy aircraft carriers (and their current location) highlights that, despite their reputation, U.S. carriers have met a watery grave 16 times. The first American carrier, the USS Langley (CV-1), contrasts sharply with the modern Gerald R. Ford class, which represents today’s most advanced U.S. capability. The article notes carriers rarely sink, and that only two nations have destroyed a U.S. carrier: Japan, during World War II, and Germany, which sank one. Outside that conflict, the only nation that sank a U.S. aircraft carrier was the United States itself. In most cases, ships are decommissioned and dismantled, but the U.S. has deliberately sunk some of its own carriers for different reasons. The piece says it focuses on 10 ships to reflect varied roles and fates, largely tied to the Pacific Theater of World War.