Light from the setting sun shines on a Fighter Squadron 41 (VF-41) F-14A Tomcat aircraft as it flies a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) during Operation Desert Storm. VF-41 is embarked aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71).

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.