060803-N-5248R-005 (Aug. 3, 2006)Onboard the US Navy (USN) Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71), USN MASTER CHIEF PETTY Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Joe R. Campa Jr. greets crew members in the Medical Department during a visit aboard ship at Naval Station (NS) Norfolk, Virginia (VA). MCPON Campa is visiting at NS Norfolk to talk to the Sailors in the region. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication SPECIALIST SEAMAN Sheldon Rowley (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.