A UH-46D Sea Knight helo of Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Six (HC-6) attached to AOE-4 banks to the starboard above the kingposts of the USS Detroit (AOE-4) while the ship is transferring supplies to the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-60) during an underway replenishment as part of a 1992 Mediterranean deployment

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.