How large could a practical 1945 carrier be?

What was the largest feasible aircraft carrier that could have been built by the end of World War II?

Something approaching the early Forrestal concept was materially feasible, although aircraft size and deck operations mattered more than an absolute displacement ceiling.

The practical limit depended on how many aircraft a carrier could handle and on their dimensions, rather than on a fixed displacement ceiling. Midway had already grown beyond the needs of wartime piston aircraft, while jets soon required much more room. The answer therefore points toward an early Forrestal-sized ship as materially feasible at the end of the war. A displayed 1952 study illustrates the difficulties of arranging four catapults, with two forward and two at the waist, around the island. The panel disagrees over describing these early proposals as straight-deck designs and corrects an initial identification of the drawing as USS United States. The comparison concerns what contemporary materials could support, with the operational layout still depending on the aircraft expected aboard.