US Navy (USN) Deck Department Sailors heave on mooring lines as the USN Aircraft Carrier USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63) prepares to depart its forward-deployed operating port of Yokosuka, Japan (JPN). The KITTY HAWK's Deck Department is responsible for maintaining the ship's hull, manning the small boats and providing expert seamanship services

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.