Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:37:51-1:39:47

Hermes and the first modern carrier ski jump

The lineage separates an improvised early flight-deck slope from the 1970s ski-jump concept designed for modern STOVL operations.

HMS HermesInvincible Class Aircraft CarriersNaval AviationSki Jump Carriers
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Question

Which aircraft carrier first featured a ski jump?

Short answer

Furious had an earlier ramp-like experiment, but Hermes is the better answer for the modern ski jump, with the Invincible class first built around it.

Notes

Historical resemblance and design continuity give different answers. Furious carried a slope for a particular aircraft-handling experiment, not the modern ski jump as later understood. The contemporary concept emerged in the 1970s and was fitted to Hermes during refit. Invincible and her sisters then became the first class constructed with the system as an integral feature.