Aviation Electronics Technician 3rd Class (AE3) Charles Jackson (left) and AE3 Charles Shelton, load Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) codes into an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Six (HS-6) onboard the aircraft carrier USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70)

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.