A view of the regulation basketball court set up on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS RANGER (CV-61) for an exhibition game by the San Diego Stars. The event was attended by crew members and families of the carriers USS CONSTELLATION (CV-64), USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) and invited guests of the San Diego Naval Training Center (NTC). The game was sponsored by the San Diego Sports Arena in cooperation with ESPN Sports network

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.