Aviation ordnancemen aboard the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA (CV-43) load Mark 82 500-pound bombs on an Attack Squadron 55 (VA-55) A-6E Intruder aircraft prior to an air strike on targets in Libya

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.