Members of the supply department on board the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN-72) move hazmat material out onto one of the elevators in preparation for off loading the plastic storage trash as the ship docks at the Naval Base. The Navy does not dump trash at sea but returns it to shore for proper disposal

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.