A chief petty officer from the aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA (CV-60) is greeted by his family upon his return to Naval Station Mayport at the end of the ship's final cruise, a six month deployment to the Mediterranean. The ship is scheduled to be decommissioned on August 20, 1994

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.