The aircraft carrier USS America (CV-66) is shown being tied up at pier 12 at the naval base as a large crowd of friends, love ones and relatives gather to greet the ship upon arrival from its final Mediterranean deployment. The ship will be decommissioned later this year

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.