Why Don’t Aircraft Carriers Tip Over?

[rangerrebew]

Why Don’t Aircraft Carriers Tip Over?
Story by Kyle Mizokami •
1d
 

It’s a delicate question, to say the least: could a $13 billion dollar aircraft carrier that took five years to build, now home to 5,000 people, just suddenly tip over?

I decided to broach the subject after seeing a post on Reddit’s r/Damnthatsinteresting subreddit, which pointed out something not everyone notices: aircraft carriers are “insanely curved,” which makes them look like they’re ready to topple over at any moment. The post tells a story in two pictures: the first shows a sharply curved aircraft carrier prow that narrows to a knifelike point, which to some implies the entire bottom of the ship is knifelike. The second picture shows what a carrier-like ship (here, a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship) looks like below the waterline.

Tapered hulls may make carriers look unsteady, but there’s more than meets the eye here.

Buoyancy
 
According to the Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes, any object resting on the surface of water is acted upon by a buoyancy force. The buoyancy force pushes upward, while gravity (which Archimedes did not know about) pushes downward. As a result, if the object is less dense than the liquid it displaces, it will float.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/why-don-t-aircraft-carriers-tip-over/ar-AA1fiF8k?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=2970d169071f485484dce1dd1fe0eba5&ei=19

[Wingnut]

Math is racist, ergo Archimedes was a racist and every conclusion he ever made must be struck from history.   

[Kamaji]

Math is racist, ergo Archimedes was a racist and every conclusion he ever made must be struck from history.   

[Elderberry]

[andy58-in-nh]

Well, if
Hank Johnson ever climbed aboard, I might grab myself a lifejacket.

[Fishrrman]

I guess I qualify for the "Hank Johnson" award, but...

Looking at Elderberry's pic above, it STILL looks like there isn't enough below the water to counter-balance that which is above.

Must be a lot of weight down below...

[Elderberry]

https://science.howstuffworks.com/aircraft-carrier1.htm

The hull of the ship is made up of extremely strong steel plates, measuring several inches thick. This heavy body is highly effective protection against fire and battle damage. The ship's structural support largely comes from three horizontal structures extending across the entire hull: the keel (the iron backbone on the bottom of the ship), the flight deck and the hangar deck.

The hull portion below the water line is rounded and relatively narrow, while the section above water flares out to form the wide flight-deck space. The lower section of the ship has a double bottom, which is pretty much what it sounds like -- there are two layers of steel plating: the bottom plating of the ship and another layer above it, separated by a gap. The double bottom provides extra protection from torpedos or accidents at sea. If the enemy hits the bottom of the ship, smashing a hole in the outer steel layer, the second layer will prevent a massive leak.

I went into the double bottom of the Lex once helping the troubleshooting of the fathometer.

And we went thru 50ft seas and didn't tip over.

[Smokin Joe]

I went into the double bottom of the Lex once helping the troubleshooting of the fathometer.

And we went thru 50ft seas and didn't tip over.

I thought I read somewhere that the double bottoms could be flooded to counter ballast a list or stabilize the ship.

Obviously, most of the really heavy stuff on board is in the engineering spaces at the bottom of the hull, (reactors, turbines, etc) and that would serve as ballast. Large as they are, aircraft are built lightweight for performance and increased payload, not nearly as dense as propulsion and electrical equipment.

[PeteS in CA]

Whether USS Lexington (CV-2), USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), or every USN carrier in between, they will look top-heavy. But as @Smokin Joe pointed out, the heavy machinery is in the lower decks, while the crew spaces and hangar deck have loads of space occupied by air (which is light). In plain terms, carriers, like all ships, are significantly bottom-heavy.

[Elderberry]

I thought I read somewhere that the double bottoms could be flooded to counter ballast a list or stabilize the ship.

Obviously, most of the really heavy stuff on board is in the engineering spaces at the bottom of the hull, (reactors, turbines, etc) and that would serve as ballast. Large as they are, aircraft are built lightweight for performance and increased payload, not nearly as dense as propulsion and electrical equipment.

My job on troubleshooting the fathometer was bailing out the tiny compartment in the double bottom that the transducer was mounted in with a coffee can.