A starboard side stern view of the Aircraft Carrier USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63), conducting a precision anchoring drop, off the coast of Iwo Jima, Japan. Mount Suribachi can be seen in the background. (Substandard image)

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.