US Navy (USN) Boatswain's Mates (BM) spray mud off the portside anchor chain in the forecastle as it is taken in aboard the USN Nimitz class Aircraft Carrier USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75). The TRUMAN is preparing to move from its original anchorage point to an area closer to shore in an effort to better assist the relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina

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.