PH1(AC) Scott Allen Atlantic Ocean....A starboard quarter view of the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59), left, and the replenishment oiler USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) during an underway replenishment. OFFICIAL U.S. NAVY PHOTO (RELEASED)

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.