A UH-46 Sea Knight helicopter is silhouetted by the sun as it sits on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA (CV-60) while another Sea Knight conducts vertical replenishment operations between the carrier and the ammunition ship USS SANTA BARBARA (AE-28). Both vessels are in the region in support of 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.