Sailors inspect an aircraft and a catapult shuttle before launching an F/A-18C Hornet from the Wildcats of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131 during flight operations aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).
Summary
NORTH ARABIAN SEA (Mar. 07, 2010) Sailors inspect an aircraft and a catapult shuttle before launching an F/A-18C Hornet from the Wildcats of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131 during flight operations aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Dwight D. Eisenhower is on a six-month deployment as a part of the on-going rotation of forward-deployed forces to support maritime security operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Bradley Evans) File# 100307-N-6604E-099
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.
