Small boats tie up at the stern of the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) in preparation to move sailors to fleet landing for liberty in Bahrain. The JOHN C. STENNIS is deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH, 25 May 1998

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.