Clips of ammunition fill the breech mechanism of a twin 40 mm Bofors gun mount installed on the training aircraft carrier USS LEXINGTON (AVT 16) during filming of the ABC-TV movie "War and Remembrance. Actors are working on an SNJ Texan aircraft in the background

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.