A starboard quarter view of the battleship USS IOWA (BB 61) moored at a pier in the foreground. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS NIMITZ (CVN 68) and USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) are tied up at Piers No. 11 and 12 in the background

Aircraft carriers are warships that act as airbases for carrier-based aircraft. In the United States Navy, these consist of ships commissioned with hull classification symbols CV (aircraft carrier), CVA (attack aircraft carrier), CVB (large aircraft carrier), CVL (light aircraft carrier), CVN (aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion) and CVAN (attack aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion). The first aircraft carrier commissioned into the United States Navy was USS Langley (CV-1) on 20 March 1922.