Aerial view showing the US Navy (USN) Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser (Aegis) USS MOBILE BAY (CG 53) (foreground, and the USN Arleigh Burke Class (Flight I) Guided Missile Destroyer (Aegis) USS RUSSELL (DDG 59), maneuvering through the waters of the Pacific Ocean, during a Pass and Review exercise conducted with the USN Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72)

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.