US Navy (USN) Sailors stationed aboard the Aircraft Carrier, USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63), listen as Evangelical Episcopal Priest, Father Mike Warnke (standing foreground right) delivers a motivational speech. Father Warnke is a Vietnam War Veteran and is onboard during an event sponsored by the religious ministries department while the ship is in port at Yokosuka, Japan, conducting repairs during a restricted availability period

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.