King Alexandros-class carrier

File:Alexandros-class Carrier.png
Class overview
Name:	King Alexandros-class Aircraft Carrier
Builders:	Portsdown Shipbuilders Consortium
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Invulnerable-class carrier Dominance-class carrier King William-class carrier
Cost:	Approx. B$4.3 billion
In service:	1 March 1973 - Present
Completed:	8
Active:	8
General characteristics
Type:	Aircraft Carrier (CVN)
Displacement:	100,000 - 105,000 tons
Length:	338.85 m (1111 feet 8 in)
Beam:	77 m (252 feet 7 in)
Draft:	11.85 m (38 feet 10in)
Propulsion:	2 x Arlington-Majestic Reactors 4 × Steam Turbines 4 × Emergency Electric Generators 4 × Shafts
Speed:	+30 kn
Range:	Unlimited distance; 25 years between reactor swaps
Complement:	Ship's Company: 3,300 Air Wing: 2,500
Sensors and processing systems:	1 TKS-023 Air Search Radar 4 Trixton 500 Defence Suite 1 RHEA Defence Network
Armament:	4 x Type 730 CIWS 4 x Type 870 RAM
Aircraft carried:	85-90 Aircraft

The King Alexandros-class supercarriers are a class of eight nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the Royal Navy. The class was designed and approved to replace the aging group of carriers left over from the Great Eastern War, and effectively replaced three different classes when the H.M.S King Alexandros was launched in 1971 with the last of the older classes being decommissioned in 2004. The lead ship and the class itself was named after the first monarch of Belfras, King Alexandros. At a length of 338.85 meters and weighing in at over 100,000 tons, it is the largest vessel currently in the employment of the Royal Navy, excluding the H.M.S Victoria (BCGN-01) which was struck from the registrar in 2015. Whilst the first ship of the class was not the first aircraft carrier in the Royal Navy to be equipped with nuclear reactors, the H.M.S Erebus (CVN-44) was technically a sub-variant of the King William-class carrier, a class of carriers that served from the late 1950s until very recently, with the last ship of the class being decommissioned in 2007.

All eight carriers were constructed by Titan Shipyards, continuing an unspoken tradition of the navy's aircraft carriers being built by the Titan Shipyards company. Ever since the commissioning of H.M.S King Alexandros (CVN-45) in 1973, the class has participated in many conflicts around the world.

Design

The King Alexandros class was designed to supplement the larger numbers of the King William-class carrier and H.M.S Erebus (CVN-44) in order to maintain the capabilities of the Royal Navy as the King William class slowly began to be decommissioned in favor of the nuclear powered carriers. With an angled flight deck similar to the King William, the King Alexandros class takes and improves upon features from it and the much older classes that were still in service when the H.M.S King Alexandros was launched.

Learning from attacks on it's carriers during the Great Eastern War, the King Alexandros echoes it's older brothers usage of a thick flight deck underlined with armour and the usage of large steel doors to seal off sections of the hangar deck in the event of a fire.

Naval Air Group

The very reason for a carrier's existence is to store, launch, and command groups of aircraft so that they may strike further afield in foreign countries in places where a friendly airfield does not exist. The King Alexandros class can accommodate 85-90 aircraft of different types, but operational practice often calls for space to be left for easier maneuvering of aircraft and to store visiting aircraft.

Typically, a Naval Air Group for a carrier includes nine squadrons, including two helicopter squadrons. Standard practice calls upon the NAG to deploy four Strike Fighter squadrons, one Early Warning squadron, one Electronic Attack squadron, one Carrier Logistics squadron, and two helicopter squadrons. The aircraft that make up each squadron differs per Naval Air Group and their potential roles in a combat environment, but the Royal Navy utilizes the BAU Buccaneer as a strike fighter and the BAU Shrike as an air superiority aircraft.

Ships in class

Name	Number	Builder	Comissioned	Status
H.M.S King Alexandros	CVN-45	Titan Shipyards	1973	Active
H.M.S King Philippos	CVN-46	Titan Shipyards	1973	Active
H.M.S King Robert	CVN-47	Titan Shipyards	1975	Active
H.M.S King Benjamin	CVN-48	Titan Shipyards	1983	Active
H.M.S King Frederic	CVN-49	Titan Shipyards	1985	Active
H.M.S King Gregory IX	CVN-50	Titan Shipyards	1986	Active
H.M.S King Henry II	CVN-51	Titan Shipyards	1987	Active
H.M.S King James	CVN-52	Titan Shipyards	1992	Active

See also

• Royal Navy