U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS America (CV-66), leads an echelon of ships through the Suez Canal, enroute to the Adriatic Sea where they will position themselves off the coast of Bosnia-Herzegovina in support of Operation Joint Endeavor

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.