Israel Needs Aircraft Carriers

By DemocracyRules

I’m serious, and its feasible.  The idea is for Israel to buy three large container ships about 350 yards long, about 110,000 tons.  There are quite a few around that are that size or larger.  Then lease them out for shipping, make money on the deal. 

Later, take each one in to a shipyard and install a removable aluminum superstructure and deck for use as an aircraft carrier.  Arrange removable shipping containers inside the ship to make sailor’s quarters, ammunition storage, mess halls, everything you need.  Then take all the stuff out and store it on land in Israel. 

When Israel needs an aircraft carrier to go bomb Iran, they can bring one of their container ships into port and install all the prefabricated pieces within about  one month.  Artillery, missile batteries, and anti-aircraft guns would all be drive-on drive-off equipment that would be locked in place on the sub-deck.

This may sound crazy but it’s not.  In WWII, many freighters were converted for use as aircraft carriers, and they were very successful.  Eventually many shipping convoys in the Atlantic had one of these carriers to fend off German U-Boats, and they worked very well.

These carriers would not be as good as purpose-built vessels, but they would be a lot cheaper, and they would do the job.  Mainly, they would be used to launch air-strikes on Iran from or near the Persian Gulf.  Iran has only a piddling Navy, and no attack aircraft worth worrying about.

These carriers would be very useful for an attack on Iran.  Having them could push Iran to negotiate. It would also help Israel gain more control of the situation.  It may even avert war.

Pro Patria

[Shadow, thank you for your comment about the ARAPAHO project.  Although it was mainly for seaborne helicopter support, you're right that it is a very similar idea.  The US Navy planned to outfit  container ships with all the capabilities for helicopter maintenance.  The idea of a conversion between a container ship to a flat-top is conceptually similar.]

Comments

[Shadow]

You might want to look into the ARAPAHO project from the 1980s.

[HammerNH]

As a former US navy enlisted man, the problem I see with container ship conversion/use would be watertight integrity after battle damage.
Several times during WWII the Japanese navy severely damaged US carriers (believing them sunk) and faced those same flattops later thanks to damage control and excellent watertight compartmentalization.
Converted cargo ships did not fair as well in the Atlantic (the HMS Dasher for example) sinking quickly after a single incident of damage.
However, serious carriers like Saratoga and Forrestal are stripped down and in the US mothball fleet. Perhaps Israel should consider buying one of these?
[DemocracyRules says: Thank you for the expert opinion.
I am glad to entertain serious consideration of this topic. Even a stripped down carrier may be helpful for Israel. The country has only about 7 million people, so an extensive navy is not feasible. However, at this point in the war on terror, it seems that an Israeli landing point in or near the Gulf could be very helpful, tactically and strategically.]