Inventory of the five major enemies of aircraft carriers, ballistic missiles can only rank fifth, and were the first to sink more than ten aircraft carriers

After World War II, aircraft carriers replaced battleships and became the new ocean overlord. The aircraft carrier's over-the-horizon detection and attack capabilities leave its enemies nowhere to hide. However, no matter how powerful a weapon is, it has its nemesis. In the century-old development of aircraft carriers, five major nemesis have always been with it.

The fifth nemesis of the aircraft carrier: ballistic missiles

Theoretically speaking, ballistic missiles have great advantages in attacking aircraft carriers. Because the ballistic missile has a very long range and its trajectory is a quadratic function curve, it can attack the aircraft carrier from directly above it. In addition, ballistic missiles are very fast and their terminal speed can exceed Mach 5, so they are very difficult to intercept. Once an aircraft carrier is hit by a ballistic missile, it will be severely damaged.

However, using ballistic missiles to attack aircraft carriers also has drawbacks. Aircraft carriers are moving targets and their trajectory is uncertain. Therefore, missiles need to constantly correct their flight trajectory parameters before they can hit the target. Therefore, although using ballistic missiles to hit aircraft carriers sounds beautiful, the actual effect cannot be evaluated.

The fourth nemesis of the aircraft carrier: anti-ship missiles

As early as the Anglo-Armania War, the Argentine Navy used Exocet anti-ship missiles to sink British cruisers. This caused a sensation at the time. Many people imagined that if an anti-ship missile hits an aircraft carrier, it will inevitably be severely damaged. In addition, anti-ship missiles have a range of more than 100 kilometers. This weapon can launch attacks outside the aircraft carrier's strike circle and appears to be much safer.

However, this is just people's imagination, because there are no actual cases of anti-ship missiles hitting aircraft carriers. Moreover, the aircraft carrier is equipped with a complete short-range defense system and missile interception system. It is difficult for anti-ship missiles to break through these systems.

The third enemy of aircraft carriers: submarines

Unlike ballistic missiles and anti-ship missiles that attack aircraft carriers above the water, submarines attack from underwater. Harder to detect and therefore more likely to succeed.

During the Battle of Midway, the American submarine Nautilus broke through the defense circle of the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi and almost sunk the Akagi with a torpedo. This is enough to show how big a threat submarines pose to aircraft carriers. Conventionally powered submarines can dive to a depth of 400 meters and have a self-sustaining capacity of more than two weeks. They will pose a greater threat to aircraft carriers.

The second nemesis of aircraft carriers: jellyfish

Just like fighter jets are afraid of birds, shellfish are also very harmful to aircraft carriers. It has been reported before that shellfish are attached to the bottom of the warship, causing the speed to slow down and the maneuverability to decrease. When aircraft carriers sail in the ocean, what they fear most is not shellfish, but jellyfish. Jellyfish are invertebrate organisms that can enter aircraft carrier drains or other parts. This leads to pipe blockage. Once the jellyfish blocks the gas turbine heat dissipation pipe, the gas turbine will overheat and malfunction.

This eventually led to the paralysis of the aircraft carrier. In the history of aircraft carrier development, there were many similar incidents. This happened to a US aircraft carrier during a visit to Australia. Eventually, the visit was canceled and the aircraft carrier had to return to the United States. After returning to the United States, the U.S. military spent tens of millions to clean the gas turbine cooling ducts. This is also the most significant loss suffered by a US aircraft carrier after World War II.

The first nemesis of the aircraft carrier: another aircraft carrier

There is a famous saying in the history of war: "The best weapon against tanks is the tank." The best weapon against aircraft carriers is also the same. , is the aircraft carrier itself. During the Battle of Midway, American and Japanese aircraft carriers fought in the waters of Midway. During this period, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk and one American aircraft carrier was severely damaged. If you include the Battle of the Coral Sea and the sinking of the USS Lexington, it was just a Battle of Midway. Both sides sunk 5 aircraft carriers.

This also supports the statement that the aircraft carrier’s nemesis is itself. In fact, the reason why it is best to use aircraft carriers to fight against aircraft carriers is because aircraft carriers have beyond-visual-range attack capabilities, which other marine weapons do not have. Therefore, only another aircraft carrier can attack the opponent without seeing it.