Light aircraft carrier

A light aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country, typically having a capacity of 1/2 to 2/3 of the aircraft of a full-sized carrier. In WWII, the american Light Aircraft Carriers were sometimes called, "Jeep Carriers.

In the post War period, the Royal Navy operated a force of Light Aircraft Carriers, all of which were born out of Wartime designs. In World War II, the United States Navy produced a number of light carriers by converting cruiser hulls. The Independence class aircraft carriers, converted from Cleveland-class light cruisers, were unsatisfactory ships for aviation with their narrow, short decks and slender, high-sheer hulls; in virtually all respects the escort carriers were superior aviation vessels. The Independence class ships, however, had the virtue of being available at a time when available carrier decks had been reduced to Enterprise and Saratoga in the Pacific and Ranger in the Atlantic. Late in the war, two Baltimore-class heavy cruisers were converted to Saipan-class light carriers, they were completed after the war's end and after very brief lives as carriers, ended prematurely by the rapid advances in aircraft technology brought on in the 1950s, were converted to command and communication ships.

Some modern references call the French Charles de Gaulle a "light carrier," though at 40,000 tons and nuclear powered she dwarfs the vast majority of the world's aircraft carriers with the exception of the American supercarriers.

Argentinean Navy

• ARA Independencia - one ship (ex-Colossus-class)
• ARA Vienticino de Mayo - one ship (ex-Colossus-class)

Brazilian Navy

• NAeL Minas Gerais - one ship (ex-Colossus-class)
• NAeL São Paulo - one ship (ex-Clemenceau-class)

French Navy

• Lafeyette-class - two ships (ex-Independence-class)
• FS Arromanches - one ship (ex-Colossus-class)

Indian Navy

• INS Vikrant - one ship (ex-Majestic-class)

Royal Navy

• Hermes-class - four ships
• Colossus-class - eight ships
• Majestic-Class - five ships

Royal Australian Navy

• HMAS Sydney - one ship (ex-Majestic-class)
• HMAS Vengeance - one ship (ex-Colossus-class)
• HMAS Melbourne - one ship (ex-Majestic-class)

Royal Canadian Navy

• HMCS Warrior - one ship (ex-Colossus-class)
• HMCS Magnificent - one ship (ex-Majestic-class)
• HMCS Bonaventure - one ship (ex-Majestic-class)

Royal Netherlands Navy

• HMNLS Karel Doorman II - one ship (ex-Colossus-class)

United States Navy

• Independence-class - nine ships
• Saipan-class - two ships

An older style Jeep carier, USS Oriskany, is morred accros from the ferry building in Valejo, California. She has been gutted for scrap, and unfortunently both of the companies that owned her to scrap her have gone out of business. Now she is unable to be towed as she is missing parts that make her seaworthy. The U.S. Navy has not found anyone to buy and scrap her yet.