today, we'll take a closer look at the final class of ships: the aircraft carrier. Starting in tier 4, the tech tree branches out one more time into carriers for the Japanese and US sides. Historically, carriers were largely underestimated until WWII, and even with the onset of the large pacific naval battles, the battleship was still considered the primary force at sea, coming from the "ship of the line" doctrine.
The carrier
Carriers come with three kinds of planes: dive bombers, torpedo bombers and fighter craft, the latter not being available until tier 6. Dive bombers work autonomously - you give them a target, they fly there and try to drop some bombs on it. Torpedo bombers, on the other hand, need babysitting, since the target vector is set manually. In return, usually only one out of three dive bombers will hit its target, while it's possible to get a full salvo hit with torpedoes, doing quite a bit more damage.
A carrier that is discovered and in range of enemy ships is in trouble - it can try to run and keep sending planes, but it certainly spells doom when a destroyer shows up alongside.
Strategies
Carriers can do substantial damage, when played right. One of your main advantages is range and overview - your planes can cover the battlefield faster than anything else, and do a great job at spotting enemy ships. You can then pick your targets, preferably damaged ships you can take out with one or two wings, or ships that endanger your position, like sneaking destroyers.
Starting tier 6, you'll have fighters available, making carrier vs carrier battles even more interesting. You can use them to scout, escort your ships against enemy bombers, or defend your position.
But planes don't roam free unopposed - most ships have some form of anti-aircraft artillery, with the battleships' heavy flak being the most devastating. Flying over a large enemy formation means only one-third of your bomber wing might make it back home, and you might run out of planes after a couple of attack runs.
Keep an eye on enemy ships that look like they're heading your way, and attack them with all you've got, before they can get in range and spot you. Especially sneaky destroyers.
Against other classes
Bringing destroyers down is often easiest with dive bombers. They're very mobile, especially if controlled by experienced players, and just don't stay in a straight line for long enough to get a good torpedo hit in. They're relatively easy to set on fire, so dive bombers can often do quite some damage, especially if you spot them early enough.
Cruisers are one of the best targets for you - they don't have the same massive AAA as battleships, and aren't usually agile enough to escape torpedo runs. Beware of some Soviet cruisers having special flak abilities they can activate.
Battleships are good targets as long as they're alone. Slow-moving, slow-turning, they're easy to hit with torpedo salvos, and even though it'll take some time to bring one down, you can see them coming from over half the map away.
Enemy carriers can be tempting to take on, but consider the cost: They're behind their fleet, meaning you've got to get through a huge flak barrage before you can do any damage. Especially later-stage carriers have very decent AAA themselves, and fighters to protect. Finally, while you're busy flying all across to the other side, you're not doing damage to other targets which might be much closer.
Keep your fighters where they send their bombers is usually the best thing you can do.
Nations
Only two nations have carriers in the game, the USA and Japan. Japanese carriers are pretty decently armed in terms of guns (some of the early US carriers have almost no guns at all) and can do some surprising damage against careless destroyers. US carriers tend to favour larger bomber wings.
Playing carrier can be great fun, and it can be very satisfying to be on the other end of that pesky "enemy aircraft incoming!" alert.
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