Aviation Boatswain's Mate Airman Sean Weaver from Sierra Vista, Ariz., a member of the crash and salvage team aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), prepares for night flight operations on the ship's flight deck

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.