Comparison

HMS Queen Elizabeth vs Charles de Gaulle (R91)

Europe's two front-line carriers follow different philosophies. HMS Queen Elizabeth (284 metres, about 65,000 tonnes) is larger and conventionally powered; Charles de Gaulle (261.5 metres, about 42,500) is smaller but is the only nuclear-powered carrier in service outside the United States, and it launches aircraft by catapult. The British ship weighs roughly one and a half times as much.

HMS Queen ElizabethCharles de Gaulle (R91)

Length to scale

Generic silhouettes by ship type, scaled to length; they do not reproduce each class's exact profile.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is 1.1 times longer than Charles de Gaulle (R91) · HMS Queen Elizabeth displaces about 1.5 times as much as Charles de Gaulle (R91)

Displacement balance

The tilt is symbolic (logarithmic and capped) so it stays readable even between very different ships.

HMS Queen Elizabeth

284 m · 932 ft · 65,000 t

Royal Navy: about 65,000 tonnes, the largest British warship.

Charles de Gaulle (R91)

261.5 m · 858 ft · 42,500 t

The only non-US nuclear-powered carrier in service.

* Open-source estimate. Full-load displacement in approximate metric tonnes (submerged for submarines).

Figures used and how reliable they are

HMS Queen Elizabeth: 932 ft, 65,000 t. Royal Navy: about 65,000 tonnes, the largest British warship.
Charles de Gaulle (R91): 858 ft, 42,500 t. The only non-US nuclear-powered carrier in service.

Related comparisons

Compare any other pair in the warship size comparison, with its full method. More context: Weapons · Modern warfare · All tools

Sources / References

U.S. Navy Fact Files for carriers, destroyers and submarines.
Royal Navy, French Navy and Spanish Navy public ship pages.
IISS, The Military Balance (annual editions).
Jane's Fighting Ships and Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships (historical ships).