History of the aircraft carrier
（重定向自Hurricane bow）
![Flight deck of HMS Formidable with battleship HMS Warspite in background (right), operations off Madagascar, April 1942](/Images/godic/202501/19/Flightdeck_of_HMS_Formidable1957.jpg")
![The Union Army balloon Washington aboard the Navy barge George Washington Parke Custis](/Images/godic/202501/19/Balloon_barge1957.jpg")
![Samuel Langley's experiment flying the (Langley Aerodrome) off a houseboat in 1903 failed with it plunging into the Potomac River.](/Images/godic/202501/19/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley_-_Potomac_experiment_19031957.jpeg")
![The first seaplane carrier, the French Foudre (right, with hangar and crane), with one of her Canard Voisin seaplanes taking off, during tactical exercises in June 1912](/Images/godic/202501/19/CanardVoisinJune19121957.jpg")
Aircraft carriers are warships that evolved from balloon-carrying wooden vessels into nuclear-powered vessels carrying scores of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Since their introduction they have allowed naval forces to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations.