1954: Flight deck testing of the first steam catapults installed on a US aircraft carrier

[Hamartia Antidote]

in 1954 the US installed steam catapults onto the small Midway class aircraft carrier USS Hancock to test before the launch of the new Forrestal supercarrier class. Later the Hancock was brought back in to install an angled landing deck to keep landing planes from intruding into the launch area (as you can see in the film) to match the newer Forrestal design.

Starts with propeller aircraft then moves to jets at 3:50.

USS Hancock straight deck during WW2 years

After refit.


A 1955 Forrestal class carrier with angled deck, multiple catapults, and other improvements (however non-nuclear...the 1958 Enterprise class would experiment with that)

Sea trial 1955

 

[TexasJohn]

Those early years of Navy aviation saw some strange looking planes...this article explains some of it
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/07/05/how-the-navy-built-a-better-jet/