US Navy Aviation Boatswain's Mate Handling AIRMAN Denver Constantino-Perez and AIRMAN Kyle Cowell monitor the movement of aircraft on their"ouji board"in the flight deck control center onboard the Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74). The aircraft carrier is conducting a Composite Training Unit Exercise off the coast of California.(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication SPECIALIST 3rd Class Jon Hyde) (Released)

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.