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With the advent of heavier-than-air flight, the aircraft carrier has become a decisive weapon at sea. In 1911 aircraft began to be successfully launched and landed on ships with the successful flight of a Curtiss Pusher aboard the USS Pennsylvania. The British Royal Navy pioneered the first aircraft carrier as floatplanes, as flying boats under performed compared to traditional land based aircraft. The first true aircraft carrier was the HMS Argus, launched in late 1917 with a complement of 20 aircraft, a flight deck of 550 ft (170 m) and 68 ft (21 m) wide. The last aircraft carrier sunk in wartime was the Japanese carrier Amagi, in Kure Harbour in July 1945. The greatest loss of life was the 2,046 killed on the Akitsu Maru—a converted passenger liner with a small flight deck, carrying the Imperial Japanese Army's 64th Infantry Regiment.