Onboard the Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier, USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74), Aviation Boatswain's Mate (AW) Third Class Wesley Warnen updates the hangar deck "ouija" board in Hangar Deck Control. The Nuclear powered aircraft carrier STENNIS is deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of the Southwest Asia build-up

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.