A close-up view of the markings on the side of an Attack Squadron 72 (VA-72) A-7E Corsair aircraft parked on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV-67). The markings include an accounting of the number of combat missions flown by the aircraft's pilot during Operation Desert Storm and the number of general-purpose bombs, cluster bombs and anti-radiation missiles dropped or fired during those missions

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.