US Navy (USN) Kitty Hawk and John F Kennedy Class Aircraft Carrier USS JOHN F KENNEDY (CV 67) flight deck personnel conduct a no fly day flight deck scrub to wash off any Foreign Object Debris (FOD), while the USN Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser USS VICKSBURG (CG 69) is seen in the background steaming along side, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

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.