The US Navy's Perry Class Frigate USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (FFG 58) cuts through the waters of the Adriatic Sea after taking on fuel during underway replenishment operations with US Navy's nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) (not shown). Both vessels are on a scheduled six-month deployment to the Mediterranean, and have been operating in the Adriatic Sea in support of the NATO-led Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR

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.