Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) the Honorable Leon Panetta speaks with Sailors in the mess decks of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).
Summary
BREMERTON, Wash. (Aug. 22, 2012) Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) the Honorable Leon Panetta speaks with Sailors in the mess decks of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is scheduled to get underway at the end of the month for a deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kenneth Abbate) File# 120822-N-OY799-093
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.