Interesting factoid of the day: some aircraft carriers were built or modified with escalators.

"From 1947 to 1955, 15 Essex and Ticonderoga class aircraft carriers were modernized to accommodate the arrival of jet aircraft and nuclear-armed heavy attack bombers.

Each carrier went under the knife, according to the Department of the Navy’s Naval Historical Center. Flight decks were reinforced to handle heavier aircraft; stronger elevators, more powerful catapults and new arresting gear were installed.

To better protect aircrews, ready rooms were moved to below the armored hangar bay — and that’s where the escalators come into play.

Having given pilots a longer trip to the flight deck, engineers decided at least to make it easier. A whole class of carriers was fitted with long escalators."

2003 stripes article on carriers w/escalators

Navy History refit reference

Escalator on USS Kitty Hawk from Stripes article:



Pilots on escalator aboard USS Bonhomme Richard from wiki:



Escalator aboard USS Yorktown:

Neat. Is that still a design feature?

The 2003 Stripes article says no.

"Kitty Hawk and the USS Constellation, being the “more seasoned” — read “older” — carriers in the fleet, are the only two active ships with escalators. On newer carriers, ready rooms were built closer to the flight deck."