A helicopter carrier is a type of aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters. It has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like HMS Ocean[1] of the Royal Navy (RN), or extend only partway, usually aft, as in the Soviet Navy's Moskva class[2] or in the Chinese Navy's Type 0891A. It often also has a hangar deck for the storage and maintenance of rotorwing aircraft.
Pure helicopter carriers are difficult to define in the 21st century. The advent of STOVL aircraft such as the Harrier jump jet, and now the F-35, have complicated the classification; the United States Navy's Wasp class, for instance, carries six to eight Harriers as well as over 20 helicopters.[3] Only smaller carriers unable to operate the Harrier, and older, pre-Harrier-era carriers, can be regarded as true helicopter carriers. In many cases, other carriers, able to operate STOVL aircraft, are classified as "light aircraft carriers". Other vessels, such as the Wasp class, are also capable of embarking troops such as marines and landing them ashore; they are classified as amphibious assault ships.[3]
HMS Hermes and two of her sisters were 22,000 ton fleet carriers converted to "commando carriers" only able to operate helicopters. Hermes was later converted to a STOVL carrier.
Helicopter carriers by country
Helicopter carriers
Helicopter carriers currently in service
Retired helicopter carriers
Albion (Royal Navy) – converted from light carrier and operating in helicopter carrier role from 1962 to 1973
^"Overview | Moskva Class | Collections | Research | National Cold War Exhibition". www.nationalcoldwarexhibition.org. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
^ a b"LHD Wasp Class Amphibious Assault Ships". Naval Technology. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
^"Depth from Above: Reinventing Carrier ASW | Center for International Maritime Security". 2022-10-12. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
^"Brazil commissions helicopter carrier". www.janes.com. 29 June 2018.
^Vavasseur, Xavier (2021-04-24). "China Commissions a Type 055 DDG, a Type 075 LHD and a Type 094 SSBN in a Single Day". Naval News. Retrieved 2021-04-25.