High-angle, starboard side, stern view of the US Navy (USN) Aircraft Carrier, USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67), showing Sailors manning the rails and aircraft spotted on deck, as the ship docks at Tarragona, Spain. The Kennedy and her embarked Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW 7) are returning after conducting combat missions in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM

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.