Launch and recovery cycle

Launch and recovery cycles are scheduled to support efficient use of naval aircraft for searching, defensive patrols, and offensive airstrikes.

Carrier air operations evolved rapidly from experimental ships of the early 1920s through the combat experience of World War II.

[3] Royal Navy doctrine, formulated in the cold and stormy north Atlantic, stored most embarked aircraft on the hangar deck to minimize weather damage and maximize operational readiness when the time came to launch.

Completing this process as quickly as possible prevented loss of planes from fuel exhaustion, and again minimized the time the carrier must deviate from its preferred course into the direction of the wind.

[12] After the dawn launch had been recovered, those planes might be refueled in preparation to either repeat the search and patrol mission or augment the offensive force.

Loss of HMS Courageous in September 1939 emphasized aircraft carrier vulnerability to submarines; and loss of HMS Glorious in June 1940 illustrated the importance of maintaining a launch and recovery cycle to keep search aircraft aloft despite the decreased speed of advance resulting from periodic course changes to accommodate wind direction.

[6] Most aircraft carriers accepted the operational inconvenience of full utilization of both deck and hangar storage for embarked aircraft after Royal Navy losses to air attack during Operation Excess and the Battle of Crete illustrated the importance of maximizing the number of fighters available for CAP.

The strike force sometimes launched before the enemy was found if necessary to clear the flight deck for recovery of the morning search and CAP aircraft.

Infrequency of combat between equivalent opposing air forces reduced emphasis on airstrikes using all embarked aircraft.

Carrier operations during the Korean War and Vietnam War emphasized deckload strikes of about thirty aircraft with cyclic operations involving smaller numbers of planes for combat air patrol, airborne early warning and control, reconnaissance, or free-lance missions seeking targets of opportunity.

The shorter endurance of unrefueled jets caused the normal cycle time to be reduced to about 90 minutes from the four hours which had been typical for the latter part of World War II.