[null and void]

Why the launch catapult in the landing strip? The whole point of the angled deck was to keep launches and landings physically separated wasn’t it???

[NorthMountain]

The angled deck directs landing aircraft away from parked aircraft, and allows simultaneous launch and recovery. that said, aircraft can launch from 2 catapults located at the bow, and from 2 catapults located on the angle.

See below:

Pardon the huge image, but it shows some interesting things:

[tanknetter]

The bow area is too small to support two catapults for effective cyclic operations, plus running the risk that combat damage would take out both catapults, rendering the ship incapable of launching any aircraft.

Both catapults would only be used during large launch operations (Alpha Strike-type ops), otherwise the waist cat is mostly a spare or supplemental launch option.

[Pecos]

The catapult is aligned with the bow ramp, which helps a heavily loaded VTOL-capable aircraft (Harrier, F-35) take off without using as much fuel.