U.S. Navy Sailors from the Air Department's Crash and Salvage Division use a tow tractor to make rounds after the launch of an aircraft on the flight deck of the Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69) on Nov. 11, 2006. EISENHOWER is currently deployed in support of maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication SPECIALIST SEAMAN Clarence McCloud) (Released)

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.