US Navy (USN) Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Chin Van Dang, USN Rear Admiral (RADM) Admiral Timothy J. Keating, USN RADM Robert F. Willard and USN Vice Admiral (VADM) James W. Metzger, standing left-to-right at attention, during the Seventh Fleet Change of Command Ceremony, onboard the aircraft carrier USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63). During the Ceremony, RADM Keating relinquished command to RADM Willard as Battle Force Seventh Fleet Commander

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.