Hospitalman John Murray treats a crewmember of USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) while Sea Cadets observe. The cadets are visiting TRUMAN to observe shipboard life underway aboard an aircraft carrier. TRUMAN is currently conducting carrier qualifications off the North Carolina coast

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.