U.S. Navy LT. Kimball Terres, a shooter aboard the Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69), checks the flight decks crosswind gages before launching an EA-6B Prowler from Electronic Attack Squadron 140 in the Mediterranean Sea., Oct. 23, 2006. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication SPECIALIST 2nd Class Miguel Angel Contreras) (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.