Steam from the launch of another aircraft drifts over an F/A-18A Hornet aircraft lining up on the catapult in preparation for launch during flight operations aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS NIMITZ (CVN-68). The tail fins and wing tips of the Hornet are painted in the high visibility paint scheme of the Naval Air Weapons Center

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.