US Navy Sailors prepare cargo for transfer from the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) during turnover and transfer operations with the USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) (background) in the western Mediterranean. Commanded by US Navy Captain Malcolm P. Branch, George Washington is nearing completion of her second scheduled deployment since her commissioning, while Enterprise returns to sea for her first scheduled deployment in several years

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.