I agree with this list. There are many more but since the list is only top 8, all the important CVs I think have been included in particular Enterprise, Akagi and Kaga. Its a shame Enterprise was not preserved. It would have been awesome to see this ship to this day. Would think a lot of Trekkies would make pilgrimage to that ship :)

It's a travesty that Enterprise was not preserved as a museum ship. Of all ships to go the breakers, she's the last one that should have.

The USS Enterprise was the most successful carrier not only in WW ll, but in history. She was the only one of the 7 carriers afloat prior to Pearl Harbor that was still afloat and fighting at the end of the war. She earned 20 out of a possible 22 battle stars and next closest ship had just 16. She was responsible for sinking 3 or 4 of the 6 Japanese carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor. Prior to the October 26, 1942 battle off Santa Cruz, Enterprise and Hornet were our only 2 operational carriers and Hornet was sunk during that battle leaving a badly damaged Enterprise as our only carrier left. Enterprise along with the light carrier Independence were the very first carriers in US Naval history to operate their airplanes at night and in bad weather. My Dad was a TBM pilot in Night Torpedo Squadron 90 December 1944- May 1945.

Those IJN carriers weren't badly damaged at Midway. THEY WERE SUNK!

The Enterprise was America`s greatest ship. She should have been declared a national monument. That it did not happen was and still a national travesty even to this day. RIP.

yeah those yorktown class carriers pulled their wieght multiple time. and i think its a shame that CV-6 wasnt preserved as a museum ship. that thing stood alone as a fleet carrier against the might of the IJN and earned 20+ battle stars. also a little addition to IJN Kaga: on launch that thing had THREE flight decks for starting planes.

It's a national disgrace that Enterprise was sent to the breakers! Possibly only matched by Great Britain allowing Warspite to be scrapped. Great video!😎

You should add that the Enterprise is the only non English ship ever to receive and Admiralty Pennant.

I found it interesting that the entire Yorktown carrier class (Yorktown, Enterprise, and Hornet) made your list.

Hard to argue with the list, though as others have said there could be substitutions and additions. IJN Hiryu (for Pearl & Midway) and HMS Ark Royal (for the Bismarck) could/should be here. USS Saratoga (CV-3) sold be here. And the carriers of replacement carriers USS Yorktown (CV-10) and USS Lexington (CV-16) were arguably as significant & exciting as their namesakes. At least we can all agree on USS Enterprise (CV-6), a ship whose history practically WAS the history of the War in the Pacific…a name so legendary its become an unofficial flagship for the Navy and inspired the writer of the longest running sci fi franchise in media history.

Somewhere on that list should have been HMS Victorious, whose planes incapacitated the Bismark. She was loaned to the US Navy and served as the USS Robin in the Pacific. She was involved in other notable actions as well.

I remember being so obsessed with the uss hornet when I was still a kid. But over all I still like this video

Great as always. Thanks.

Enterprise, the most famous ship of WWII, was scrapped in 1958 because the state of New York and private interests could not come up with sufficient funds to buy her from the Navy and turn her into a memorial. What an ignoble end to the fightingest ship in the US Navy.

Your understatements are biblical. If Akagi and Kaga were "badly damaged" at Midway, I suppose Titanic "scratched the paint" against an ice cube.

Glad to see my Father's Yorktown in the mix. It was incredible the turn around at Pearl between Coral Sea and the Midway conflict.

I would change one item since it's inclusion is extremely limiting and that is the USS Essex CV-9. As a class all the Essex Class carriers contributed greatly to the Battle in the Pacific. Some of the Essex carriers actually achieve more than CV-9. Very hard to honestly pick out one from the 12 that were launched and able to serve till the end of the war.

USS Enterprise, battle 360. She was a beast 💪

6:18 Regarding Yorktown, instead of it saying, "following repairs" it should say "while STILL under repair" as they estimated she would need several MONTHS in drydock to repair but she was ordered to sail with repair crews still aboard after only 72 hours at Pearle Harbor to join the Midway operation. Japanese forces would report sinking her on 4 occasions, with the first 3 obviously being in error.

Of Kido Butai, Kaga is the least accomplished during WWII (she did quite a bit vs China before Pearl Harbor) because she hit a reef and missed out on the Indian Ocean Raid. In addition, Soryu and Hiryu participated in the second invasion of Wake Island, so either of those ought to have been put in place of Kaga.

Difficult decisions to be made, for sure. I'd say the list is reasonable and valid via an observational personal opinion. The information provided for the reasonings behind the picks was interesting and, in some cases, provided me with previously unknown knowledge. Good video.

Haven't even seen the video yet, but I'm liking seeing all three of the Yorktown class in the thumbnail!

Strange that there was only one British carrier mentioned (no "Ark Royal"?) only one Essex class, and no mention of the "Saratoga". Interesting choices.

Fantastic episode 🇨🇦 Vet

Enterprise right where she belongs! The ship so hard to kill that it earned the title "Gray Ghost" through its service. Even when the war ended she was undergoing repairs for a hit that, by the sight of it at the time, you'd think should've been a death blow. Yet she was made fighting capable once more, and then....we scraped her. Anyone who appreciates history tends to see that as a crime against the outstanding service record of that vessel.

Saratoga should have replaced Hornet. Sara fought all through the war, received serious damage several times and returned to service. Hornet did a lot for one year, but that is the sticking point, 1 year. On the other hand, Yorktown took 4 tries to finally put her down. After the first round of damage at Midway, the crew actually got the damage under control and started flight operations again. It was even being towed out the combat area when finally torpedoed by I 168.

I would suggest revising this list to the top 10. Including the HMS Ark Royal and the USS Saratoga to your list.

Pretty Poor. Incorrect Photos. Dubious Histories with much omitted. Your selection of the Top 8 boggles the mind... why not the Top 10? 12? What about the Ark Royal? And others. Is this the best you can do! Ugh.

There is a serious case to be made of “Enterprise CV-6” being the most successful warship of all time. Not only for individual major and minor ships sunk (70+) but for the impact those sinkings had on its war. HMS Victory by comparison sank or captured zero ships and participated in only 2 major battles, one of which she played a major role in. (Epic line breaking maneuver)

Wish my grandpa's ship was on this list, USS Long Island, CVE-1. That was the first US converted cargo ship to aircraft carrier, the first "baby carrier" Proved the viability of the concept. It didn't participate in combat but provided training to pilots, how to land on an aircraft carrier in San Diego. Made several voyages across the Pacific to the front line transporting new planes, would have been an easy, slow target for a Japanese u-boat. Transported troops home after the war, made several trans-pacific voyages in that role as well. Yeah none of the battle glory(and blood/guts/death) of bigger aircraft carriers, she was a pioneer in a concept of converted merchant ships that provided the logistical and training support that won the war.

I’m the proud son of a Navy aviator who served aboard CV-6 USS ENTERPRISE. He was a member of VT-10 and was in an Avenger torpedo bomber. His aircraft was shot down by enemy action during the battle of Leyte.

良く纏められた動画に感謝申し上げます。 いくつか指摘することをお許しください。 1:38　この画像の船は赤城（AKAGI）ではなく、瑞鶴（ZUIKAKU）です。 3:09　瑞鶴（ZUIKAKU）と紹介されている船は翔鶴（SHOKAKU）です。加えて翔鶴の艦橋は右舷ですので画像が反転しています。

Something I find extraordinary is that during the battle of the phillipine sea the zuikaku was hit so hard that the captain ordered abandon ship, however due to the experience of the damage control crew that had been on board since the ship was first commissioned they managed to save the ship when everyone, even the Captain thought she was sunk. The damage control crew of the zuikaku had balls of steel and did the unbelievable

Please work on your pronunciation, particularly of “canal”.

Nice to have a list by someone that did some reading and looked at a few pictures thus becoming an expert. Pictures of Akagi, island right in one picture and then left in next. A junior high project by an exchange student gone awry.

My personal favorite are the USS Hornet for its sharp and sleek design and Doolittle raid, USS Enterprise for Richard best, and Kaga for tall and bulky design and torpeado bombers

Enterprise was also awarded the Presidential Citation in 1943 as well before Essex did. The closest ship in regards to battle stars had 17 but she had 7 more than any US Carrier did during the whole war.

The list should have included Hiry instead of Kaga, Hiryu's aircrafts achieved more than Kaga's by sinking USS Arizona and dooming USS Yorktown and by participating in every IJN major carrier operations from Attack on Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway and including the capture of Wake Island. Meanwhile Kaga missed the Indian Ocean Raid and was the first to be crippled by Dautless dive bombers at Midway and her 27 knot speed. Zuikaku should be at the top 2 side by side with USS Enterprise considering her contribution to Japan's war effort and her rivalry with the USS Enterprise. Also, removed USS Hornet and replace her with USS Saratoga. Aside from bombing Japan by using B-25 bombers, USS Hornet (CV-8) didn't achieved anything significant, and add the 'flight to no where' and 'VT-8' fiasco of her airgroups during the Battle of Midway.

HMS Illustrious, armored flight deck, very tough. Took SEVEN bomb hits in one battle and survived. Seven!!!

I have 3 kids and have had 3 baby carriers, this being the third and BEST one. My first one was a high end brand that was clunky and complicated. My second was a wrap style which was not easy to use which = me not using it. This is easy to put on yourself and get the baby in and it’s low profile; it reminds me of putting on a backpack. I highly recommend!

Unless memory fails, Hornet was sunk by friendly forces to prevent capture after her abandonment, not the Japanese. USS Franklin should have been on the list; her survival was an epic tale.

In the two shots of the Akagi, how did the island first appear on the starboard side, then switch to the port side?

Can you make a video about evolution of C-130 hercules

If one had to choose between Japan's SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU, I think the choice should be SHOKAKU. Yes, ZUIKAKU survived her sister by a few months, but SHOKAKU's air groups did more damage against the U.S. Fleet, delivering the major share of blows against LEXINGTON at Coral Sea, against ENTERPRISE at Eastern Solomons, and against HORNET at Santa Cruz. At Santa Cruz her torpedo bomber squadron delivered the hits that killed HORNET's machinery on the morning of Oct 26, 1942, leaving her to be finished off that afternoon, after the U.S. Navy lost control of the airspace in the battle zone.

One notable missing is the Ark Royal who launched the Fairey Swordfish in the attack on Bismarck. "Ark Royal took part in many of the major operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Among these were the search for the German Pocket Battleship Graf Spree, the Norway Campaign and the destruction of the French Fleet at Dakar. In May 1941 the Ark Royal played a key role in the destruction of the German Battleship DKM Bismarck when a torpedo from one of its Swordfish aircraft severely damaged the battleship's steering."

I love the japanese carriers so much

What characteristics have you used to rate them ?

As someone who knows nearly nothing about naval ships and warfare I always though that the current most high end ships at that time would be the most powerful, strongest and decorated. oooh boy I was mistaken. I remember being told don't underestimate the Yorktown class carriers they really pulled their weight in WW2.

the main thing I learned from this video is that I have been saying canal wrong all these years.

The Enterprise was one of six US Aircraft Carriers built before US and one of three that survived the War. Anyone hear much of the Saratoga and Ranger. It was the most decorated US warship of WW2 with an unsurpassed 20 battle stars. During the early part of the Pacific War, it was the only one that could deliver Decisive blows against the Japanese. The Japs claimed it had sunk it so many times, it was nicknamed “The Galloping Ghost”. So impressive of its service, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry named his famed star ship, “Enterprise”.

The USS Enteprise, why did they not preserve her? It would’ve been such a dream for us ship enthusiasts and historians to see her! Such a shame that an amazing and big piece of history was then scrapped for parts, she was the only sister ship left after the sinking of both her sisters Yorktown and Hornet, but the US decided she had to go too.

Might I mention USS Wasp carrying Spitfires to Malta? Slammed the door shut on Axis ambitions.

Zuijaku did not sink the Princeton, she was sunk by land based aircraft. And Kaga and Akagi we’re not damaged, they were SUNK!

USS Illustrious was some kind of different interpretation to employ aircraft carriers. One fifth of air group of fighters (Fairey Fulmar) and the remaining a mix of Stringbags and Skuas (+ or - 30 airplanes). She had a strong AAe defence of 16 4.7 inch guns plus a 48 Bofors. HMS Illustrious was hit 6 times by Stuka 500 kg bombs and survived !

Id have put HMS Ark Royal in the list, its aircraft were instrumental in the sinking of the Bismarck

I could give a damn less about the enemy's record!! I used to like your channel allot, but I will watch it no more.

A good list of great aircraft carriers. However, I have mentioned this on other videos, please don't use computer generated voices, especially, as in this case, they continually mispronounce names. This one was one of the worst I've heard and it takes away from a good video.

I would have thought that the whole of the Kido Butai should have rated a mention, given the effect it had up 'til Midway...

When she says "badly damaged" in referring to Japanese carriers, she mostly means "sunk".

You may want to check the side and top views of the carriers. Lots of errors in relation to the left or right side installation of the island on the de decks. Top view often shows another situation than depicted in the side view. Some seem to show different carriers altogether. Not to mention wrong deck markings.

"THEY WERE BADLY DAMAGED AT MIDWAY"!!! They were SUNK!!!

There is no question that the Essex-class carriers were the best aircraft carriers of WWII, even if they were the most modern and last carrier class developed before the war ended. Given all specs and performances, USS Enterprise was the greatest aircraft carrier of the war even if I think, as a class, IJN Shokaku/Zuikaku were overall better carriers than the Yorktowns.

The Japanese carriers in battle of midway weren’t just seriously damaged they were sunk

In WW2 Japan lost it's 4 aircraft carrier against U.S.A in battle of Midway.great moment for US navy👍🏻

Enterprise had *better* be in the top 2 or 3! Especially since it was one of the few pre-war carriere that survived the war. In fact, unless I'm mistaken she was the *only* pre-war Pacific Fleet carrier to have survived the war, with Ranger fighting only in the Atlantic and Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp, and Hornet all being sunk by the Japanese.

There is a legend that CV-6, Enterprise, can be seen in New York harbor, when our nation is in danger...the last time she appeared, was on 9/11, her bow pointed toward the Middle East.

Fun fact of British WW2 carries, they had armored flight deck, when US was still using wood. During one combat US sailors on one US-ships saw a kamikaze plane hit the British carrier flight deck, they american tough they lost the carrier, due to on a wooden deck, they aircraft would have penetrated into the hangar. But on the British carrier whit it's armored flight deck, it didn't happen. The british sailors just pushed the aircraft of the deck and into the ocean, cleaned the flight deck, and resumed operation. If your carrier can do that, it is a good carrier, down side, is it reduce the number of aircraft it can carry.

I would replace the USS Hornet with IJN Hiryu. Hornet, while being marvelous ship didn't do as much as her sisters Enterprise and Yorktiwn, while Hiryu sunk 2 Alied Carriers, 2 Heavy cruisers, 2 destroyers (some of those together with Soryu). I oribably missed something. Euther way, that's quite a lot more than Hornet, right?

1:09 1954 photo of Illustrious prominently featuring two Dutch Sea Furys. Yeah - WWII carriers, right.

I see a lot of comments already about HMS Ark Royal not being on the list. That ship should have been included. It had quite a reputation for success and even the mere mention of it ordering fuel close to Buenos Aires was enough to influence the scuttling of the Graff Spee.

Always saw the Hornet as the jinx ship of the fleet. Aside from launching B-25s against Japan not much good happened to/for her in her short career.

Ouh, a lot American and Japanese carriers although a large amount was lost. I miss HMS Ark Royal that severely damaged the KMS Bismarck and HMS Victorious who was involved too and took a lot of other important battles. Maybe HMS illustrious was the most successful British carrier by „doing more damage to the Regia Marina in Tarento within 2 hours than the Grand Fleet to the Hochseeflotte during the whole battle of Jutland“. So she has to be under the top 3. Her sister should also be under the top 8. Perhaps it needs top 10 to place the Ark Royal.

I believe that the carrier Enterprise CV-6 was scrapped because there was another carrier named Enterprise CVN-65, and more modern versions are to come when the newest Gerald Ford class is named Enterprise CVN-80.

IJN Kaga did not go into the Indian Ocean. She was undergoing repairs. Pix of Essex was POST WW2. Angled flight decks did not exist in WW2. At Midway, CV-6 Enterprise planes damaged 4 ships including Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu and Mikuma. All 4 damaged carriers would be scuttled and Mikuma a CA of Mogami class would sink by damage. CV-3 planes operating off of CV-5 Yorktown would claim the 4th carrier Soryu at Midway. Some of Yorktown planes may have contributed to Hiryu damage and Mikuma damage.

Yorktown deserves its spot on this list. There should be a new nuclear powered carrier named Yorktown.

I agree with most of the list, but would probably swap out HMS Arc Royal for Hornet. Arc Royal's planes hit the Bismarck with torpedoes jamming her rudder and slowing her down. British surface units were then able to catch her before she reached the safety of German occupied French bases where she could make repairs. While Hornet did launch the Doolittle raid and participated in a few other raids, her air groups at Midway were notorious for their blunders. The position they were ordered to fly to to intercept the Japanese carriers was no where near correct position. After arguing with the squadron leader en route, the flight leader of Hornet's torpedo bombers disobeyed orders and turned in the direction he believed the Japanese carriers to be and in fact found them. Without air cover from his group's fighters and without the added distraction of his group's dive bombers, all 15 of Hornet's torpedo planes would be shot down and 29 of the 30 men aboard were killed while scoring no hits on the enemy. Meanwhile, after hours searching empty ocean, Hornet's fighters and dive bombers turned back for home but nearly half were lost due to running out of fuel or getting lost looking for their carrier. Also, Hornet's service life was short, as she would be sunk just a few days after her reaching 1 year of service. Another point, during the battle of Coral Sea that first damaged Yorktown, she lost many of her flight group. A few months earlier, USS Saratoga was hit by a torpedo and was forced to make repairs at the US West Coast, but her pilots and planes were intact. Her flight group was transferred to Yorktown to replace her losses. One could say that Saratoga's contribution at Midway far outweighed Hornet's in that it was her planes and pilots, launching off of the limping Yorktown's deck, that scored key hits to 2 of the 4 Japanese carriers that were sunk during the battle.

Akagi's superstructure was on the port side, yet you show it on the starboard side.

USS Princeton was sunk by land-based air, not Zuikaku.

日本語で失礼します。瑞鶴の見分け方の一番分かり易いのは艦首部の飛行甲板にスと書かれているのが瑞鶴になります。ここを訪れている方々に失礼だと思いますけど一応ですから。翔鶴の場合も艦首飛行甲板上にシと書かれているのが翔鶴ですけど。

It's amazing that enterprise it's scrap.

4:14 Mirror imaging pix to avoid copywrite infringement? Am I the only one seeing how screwed up the drawing is? The Island is on the other side!

Idk why the Shinano isn’t on here

Everytime I hear Yorktown I think of the CV-10.

The drawings for the Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet are wrong. The islands were on the STARBOARD side, not the portside as illustrated.

Akagi... "badly damaged at the Battle of Midway"??? Kaga... "badly damaged at the Battle of Midway"???

Akagi and Kaga? 2 major battles each, one of which they played a minor role in except for getting sunk. 2 minor raids each. They don’t fit on the list really at all. Yes they were at Pearl Harbor, but so were Zuikaku, which deserves its place in the list, and Shokaku, which did not make the list, but deserved to more. Shokaku and Zuikaku were in Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea (sinking Lexington), Eastern Solomons, heavy damage to Enterprise, Battle of Santa Cruz, and Philippine Sea for Shokaku, and Leyte Gulf for Zuikaku. Both were far more impactful on the war for Japan than Akagi or Kaga. Then there are all the US ships missed. Yes Enterprise most decorated and fighting alone for a time. USS Hornet for her major role in Doolittle Raid, Midway, other raids, and Santa Cruz. Yorktown CV5 is arguable. Really only a few battles, Coral Sea and Midway. Her planes did major damage there. Far overlooked was Saratoga CV3. Eastern Solomons. She stood alone after Enterprise was knocked for a while for repairs, operating with HMS Victorious-USS Robin before the Essex class began to arrive-7 battle stars. The US really could have filled out this list easy. USS Essex-13 Battle Stars and other decorations. USS Yorktown CV-10 11 battle stars and multiple decorations. USS Lexington CV16 with 11 battle stars as well. Light carrier Belleau Wood-12 battle stars and decorations. These last four ships were involved in so many heavy actions from 1943 on, Marshalls, Marianas, Philippines, Truk, Wake Island raid, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Japanese Islands raids. They don’t get the attention, but they too were far more impactful than Akagi and Kaga. Illustrious earned a spot. So did Victorious. I would have made a list of 12: Enterprise, Hornet, Yorktown CV5, Essex, Yorktown CV-10, Lexington CV-16, Belleau Wood, Zuikaku, Shokaku, Saratoga, Illustrious, Victorious.

Did you say "Battle of Toronto"?

I was on Lexington AVT (CV)-16 from 89-91. She's a museum now in Corpus. Sad she did not make the list. Presidential Unit Citation and 11 Battle Stars.

Enterprise had 20 battle stars and had most impressive record yet they couldn’t save her from scrapping. It’s like when the Navy does something honorable, it turns around and does something dishonorable to cancel out. Great for action, shitty on the veterans and ships.

Still pisses me off that the USS Enterprise was not preserved as a museum

I like USS Enterprise 👍👍👍

No mention of the USS Sable and USS Wolverine? They probably did more than any other aircraft carrier in WWII to keep the pipeline of trained carrier pilots filled to meet the demand.

The picture of Essex was wrong. It did not have the angled deck.

In the battle of Midway, Japan had lost a lot of aircraft carrier. What would have happened if Japan hadn't lost any carrier????

Varias imagenes de los portaaviones estan al revés...el puente de mando se aprecia ubicado a babor...y no a ESTRIBOR como es el caso de todos los portaviones norteamericanos o ingleses, incluso algunos japoneses...

It's too bad that the narrator of this video, otherwise very good, was not more fluent in English pronunciation.

USS Block Island.

I visited the Iowa and it was amazing. Too bad the only way to visit Japanese warships is by scuba-diving.

Yet another example of what could have been an EXCELLENT video, turned into a barely watchable one thanks to this bloody awful voice software. As someone who does voice over work, I guarantee you that if you had found a good narrator, this video would be even more well received than it is already. And I'm sure you could have found one who would have volunteered their time to do the job for nothing.

The Panama Kannel?