Wives stand on the pier beside the destroyer USS SPRUANCE (DD-963) as they wait for their husbands to come ashore following the vessel's return to port. The SPRUANCE and four other ships of the aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA (CV-60) battle group have returned from the Persian Gulf area after being deployed during Operation Desert Storm

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.