Special power and lighting systems on aircraft carriers

SINCE the introduction of aircraft carriers to the Fleet of the U. S. Navy their role has continually increased in scope as well as in importance. This has been due chiefly to advances made in aircraft and associated weapons and systems. These advances have had a direct effect on the electric power requirements of the ship service and emergency power system. Fig. 1 shows how ship service generating plants have continually grown, the CV4 in 1930 to the CVA(N) at the present time. The generating capacity of the CVA(N) is ten times greater than that of the CV4. Although this increased power demand has been necessitated by a number of factors such as higher ship's speeds, larger hulls, and more electronic gear, this discussion will cover only certain special power and lighting systems which are considered to be broad enough in scope to be treated individually.