The US Navy (USN) Aircraft Carrier USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67) pulls into the port of Valletta, Malta, for a scheduled port visit. KENNEDY is one of seven aircraft carriers participating in SUMMER PULSE 2004, a simultaneous deployment of seven aircraft carrier strike groups (CSG), demonstrating the ability of the Navy to provide credible combat power across the globe, in five theaters with other US, allied, and coalition military forces

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.