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Theodore wrote:

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Others can speak to whether we really need a training carrier, but it's unlikely we'll get one.

Theodore is correct, we probably won't get a training CV unless there is a major change in funding. As a practical matter, Kitty Hawk is the only potential ship for that mission and frankly she is too manpower intensive.

Do we need a dedicated training carrier? I came up during the era when we had one. Actually I trapped on two different training carriers, Antietam and Lexington. As training ships both did their jobs well. They were small enough to be a challenge while still being practical. The cats on Antietam were hydraulic so they were very rough on all aircraft and aviators. It was good to see her go. Lex was a very good ship, but she was getting expensive to maintain. Further, Lexington was not available for any kind of training beyond basic CQ as she really couldn't handle the bigger equipment in the fleet. CVNs can carry out a broader range of qualifications. Thus, they do allow training requirements to be spread across the fleet, reducing demands on any one ship.

jemb wrote:

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Why is Kitty Hawk the only viable ship for the role? Is it because nuke carriers are more valuable emergency-deployment-wise?
And - naive question which I'm sure you'll know the answer to! - surely the Essex class Antietam and Lex couldn't take 'modern' (post-Vietnam) carrier combat aircraft (F-4, F-14, F/A-18 and A-6), so were more limited than supercarriers rotated to this role?
(Thinking again, I've an idea Essexes could take the A-6 family, but not the fast jets)

Kitty Hawk is the most viable just because she is about to be replaced and is in much better material condition than JFK. Antietam had hydraulic catapults and could not even launch the TF-9F safely. Lexington's steam cats could have launched a F-4 in a pinch, but not routinely and not with the margin of safety we really wanted. Weight would have been a real issue with the F-14 and I seriously doubt the ability of Lexington to launch an F-14. Recoveries would have very soon cause structural damage to her deck. She had a wood deck with strategically placed steel deck plates. These were always a maintenance problem. The steel would protect the deck immediately below, but would dig into the wood around the edges of the plates. F-14s with their higher recovery speeds and weights would have made the problem turn severe very quickly. Thus, by the 1970s Lexington was limited to primary carrier qualifications. All the advanced carrier qualifications had to take place on the CVs or CVNs anyway.