An ordnance crew member uses an HLU-196 bomb hoist to mount a Mark 84 2000-lb. bomb on an F/A-18 Hornet aircraft's wing pylon aboard the aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA (CV-60) during Operation Desert Storm

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.