A view of the flight deck onboard the US Navy (USN) Aircraft Carrier, USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63), during night flight operations as the ship participates in the third annual Joint Air and Sea Exercise (JASEX), while conducting operation in the Western Pacific region off the coast of Yokosuka, Japan. The images is intended time lapsed photography

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.