U.S. Navy Culinary SPECIALIST 3rd Class Mildred Fernandez boils lobster tails for a Thanksgiving Day feast for the crew of the Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69) on Nov. 23, 2006. EISENHOWER and embarked Carrier Air Wing 7 are currently deployed in support of maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication SPECIALIST SEAMAN Clarence McCloud) (Released)

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.