For 60 years naval pilots have flown their aircraft from ships at sea. During World War I the machines were frail wooden biplanes flying from makeshift platforms on the gun turrets of battle-ships. By 1942 great naval battles were being fought in the Pacific solely between aircraft. The aircraft carrier had supplanted the battleship as the capital ship of the fleet. Tonight's documentary charts the rise of this remarkable weapon of war at sea and features some of the first pilots who daringly pioneered the technique of landing on a moving runway. Narrator MICHAEL HORDERN Film editor COLIN JONES Written and produced by BRIAN JOHNSON