Capt. Andrew J. Loiselle, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), right, explains flight deck operations to Pakistani Chief of Naval Staff Adm. Asif Sandila, center, and his staff on the flight deck.

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.