Members of the crash, salvage and rescue team prepare for flight operations on the aircraft carrier USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV-67). The two men near the P-16 shipboard firefighting and rescue truck are wearing proximity suits

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.