US Navy (USN) Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class (AM2) Gerry Douma, Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 7 (HS-7 The Dusty Dogs), Carrier Strike Group 10 (CSG-10), Carrier Air Wing 3 (CVW 3), writes notes during a maintenance check inside the cockpit of one of the Squadrons SH-60 Seahawk Helicopters in the hangar deck of the USN Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75), while the TRUMAN is in the Persian Gulf participating in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)

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.