How much fuel does an aircraft carrier have?

Answer 1

Modern nuclear aircraft carriers (of which both the US and France have deployed) are powered by 2 nuclear reactors. In general, they have enough nuclear fuel rods on board to keep running for about 20-25 years.

However, many other aircraft carriers are conventionally powered, and run on ordinary fuel oil. The amount of fuel oil on board varies widely, though most have a minimum range of 10,000 nm at a standard cruising speed. Long-range "fleet" carriers of world war two (the USS Essex class being the best example) typically had enough fuel oil to cruise at 15 knots (half of top speed) for around 20,000 nm.

In addition to fuel for the ship itself (for propulsion and to generate power to run the ship's equipment), all aircraft carriers need to carry avgas for the aviation units. Once again, the amount varies by the size, design, and era of the carrier, and is generally tailored to meet the fuel consumption requirements for the expected aircraft carried. The USN Nimitz class, for example, carries around 3 million gallons of aviation gas, which gives it somewhere around two weeks of continuous air operations.

Answer 2

The aircraft carriers of the United States don't use gas or diesel for propulsion. They are powered by nuclear reactors. They do carry large quantities of fuel for their aircraft and support ships.

Answer 3

They mostly use nuclear reactors now but formerly they used DFM. That is a marine grade diesel fuel. Some carriers are still diesel powered.