A view of the port bow of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69), being assisted by the Navy tugboat AGAWAN (YTB 809) and a civilian tugboat. The EISENHOWER is en route to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth to begin a five-month overhaul after completing a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea

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.