An elevated left side view of an F-14 Tomcat aircraft being prepared for a catapult-assisted takeoff from the flight deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN-69). The F-14 is assigned to Fighter Squadron 142 (VF-142). Three blast deflector panels are raised at the rear of the aircraft

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.