US Navy crewmen from the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) and Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1) window shop for gold jewelry during a port visit to Mina Jabal Ali, United Arab Emirates. GEORGE WASHINGTON and CVW1 are currently conducting operations in the Persian Gulf in support of UN sanctions against Iraq during Operation SOUTHERN WATCH, 17 December 1997

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.