Crowd members as well as crew members manning the rails aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN-73) watch a flyover taking place in honor of the GEORGE WASHINGTONs commissioning ceremony. F-14A Tomcat and A-6E Intruder aircraft are taking part in the flyover

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.