Description
+1 Movement.
Historical Context
Unfortunately, early carriers tended to be slow … too slow to keep up with the battleships and cruisers of the main fleet and fulfill their role of providing air support. Also, if left behind by the main fleet, aircraft carriers were terribly vulnerable; just about anything could sink these lumbering, thin-skinned vessels. Thus, the fleet carriers – made possible by interwar advances in engine design. Although the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 limited the displacement of carriers to 23,000 tons of water, everyone ignored that. The concept of a fleet carrier was developed in 1931 by American admirals Clark and Yarnell … fast enough to keep up with the fleet and be protected by it. The Essex class of American fleet carriers – driven by Westinghouse geared turbines hooked to eight boilers – became the 20th Century’s most numerous class of capital ship.