Vice President George Bush and his wife Barbara, on the bridge of the aircraft carrier USS RANGER (CV-61) with commanding officer CAPT Tony Less, watch as a Spruance class destroyer passes on the starboard side of the carrier

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.