Elevated view of Navy tugs assisting the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN-69) into docking position at pier 12. The aircraft carrier USS AMERICA (CV-66) is docked on the other side of the pier. The EISENHOWER is arriving in port after an Indian Ocean deployment

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.