S-3 Vikings assigned to Air Anti-Submarine Squadron Three Five (VS-35), Blue Wolves, conduct performance flight drills over the aircraft carrier USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72). The LINCOLN is currently deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH

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.