US Navy (USN) Aviation Boatswain's Mate (AB) PETTY Officer 3rd Class (PO3) Robert Schoblocher, a catapult safety observer aboard the USN Aircraft Carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) prepares to launch a USN T-45A Goshawk aircraft from Training Squadron Two One (VT-21) during final carrier qualifications

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.