The nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) underway in the Arabian Sea during their tranist to the Persian Gulf. George Washington will enforce UN sanctions against Iraq by patrolling the No-Fly Zone under 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.