US Navy (USN) Aviation Structural Mechanic AIRMAN (AMAN) Uriel Berganza from Fighter Squadron Eleven (VF-11) "Red Rippers," cleans the cockpit canopy of a USN F-14B Tomcat aircraft before morning flight operations begin onboard the USN NIMITZ CLASS: Aircraft Carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73). The image is silhouetted against the sky

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.