An aerial starboard view of the forward section of the Kitty Hawk class aircraft carrier USS CONSTELLATION (CV 64), as an A-6E Intruder aircraft begins to bank to the left after a catapult assisted takeoff from the flight deck

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.