A view of damage sustained by the guided missile destroyer USS CLAUDE V. RICKETTS (DDG 5) while fighting a fire aboard the guided missile cruiser USS BELKNAP (CG 26). The BELKNAP was heavily damaged and caught fire when it collided with the aircraft carrier USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67) during night operations on November 22, 1975 in the Ionion Sea

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.