Sailors load ammunition into an MK-15 Phalanx close-in weapons system (CIWS) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). Carl Vinson is underway conducting their tailored ship's training availability

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.