Onboard the US Navy (USN) Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier, USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69), USN Admiral (ADM) (Retired) Greg Johnson (Gight) explains flight operation activities to Actress Glenn Close (left) and Actor David Shaw. The EISENHOWER and Carrier Air Wing 7 (CVW-7) are currently underway in the Atlantic Ocean conducting carrier qualifications prior to a Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX)

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.