Aerial port bow view showing the Decommissioned US Navy (USN) Intrepid Class Aircraft Carrier USS ORISKANY (CV 34) sinking. The carrier will rest on the sea floor 22-miles south of Pensacola, Florida (FL) in approximately 212-ft. of water in the Gulf of Mexico, becoming the largest ship ever intentionally sunk as an artificial reef. After ORISKANY reaches the bottom, ownership of the vessel will transfer from the USN to the State of Florida

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.