Two ocean minesweepers lie tied up in the foreground as a third ocean minesweeper is moved in alongside them. The three U.S. Navy ocean minesweepers and a mine countermeasures ship are being loaded aboard the SUPER SERVANT 3 for transportation to the Persian Gulf, where they will support U.S. forces sent to the region in reaction to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) is in the background

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.