Aircraft carriers are warships that act as airbases for shipborne aircraft. United States Navy carriers are designated with hull classification symbols such as CV (Aircraft Carrier), CVA (Attack Aircraft Carrier), CVB (Large Aircraft Carrier), CVL (Light Aircraft Carrier), CVE (Escort Aircraft Carrier), CVS (Antisubmarine Aircraft Carrier) and CVN (Aircraft Carrier (Nuclear Propulsion)). Beginning with the (CV-59 to present), all carriers commissioned into service are classified as supercarriers.
The U.S. Navy has also used escort aircraft carriers (CVE, previously AVG and ACV) and airship aircraft carriers (ZRS). In addition, various amphibious warfare ships (LHA, LHD, LPH, and to a lesser degree LPD and LSD classes) can operate as carriers; two of these were converted to mine countermeasures support ships (MCS), one of which carried minesweeping helicopters. All of these classes of ships have their own lists and so are not included here.
The first aircraft carrier commissioned into the U.S. Navy was on 20 March 1922. The Langley was a converted Proteus-class collier, originally commissioned as USS Jupiter (AC-3). It was soon followed by the other pre-World War II classes: the ; , the first U.S. purpose-built carrier; the, and .
As World War II loomed, two more classes of carriers were commissioned under President Franklin Roosevelt: the , which is informally divided into regular bow and extended bow sub-classes, and the ships, which are classified as light aircraft carriers. Between these two classes, 35 ships were completed. The Navy also purchased two training vessels, and , which were given the unclassified miscellaneous (IX) hull designation.
The and the were built later in World War II, but entered service too late to serve in the war. The Midway class would serve during the entire Cold War.
At the start of the Cold War, the first supercarriers, the United States class, were canceled due to the Truman administration's policy of shrinking the United States Navy and in particular, the Navy's air assets. The policy was revised after a public outcry and Congressional hearings sparked by the Revolt of the Admirals.
Later in the Cold War, supercarrier construction began with the , followed by the ; , the first nuclear-powered carrier; and , the last conventionally powered carrier. These were followed by the and the modern-day post-cold war nuclear supercarriers, the only two classes of supercarriers that are currently in active-duty service. With the ten-ship Nimitz class complete by 2009, October 2013 saw the launch of , lead ship of the planned ten-ship Gerald R. Ford class. This was followed by the launch of in October 2019, while construction is underway on and .
During World War II, the United States Navy purchased two Great Lakes side-wheel paddle steamers and converted them into freshwater aircraft carrier training ships. Both vessels were designated with the hull classification symbol IX and lacked hangar decks, elevators or armaments. The role of these ships was for the training of pilots for carrier take-offs and landings in a safe area where the carriers would not be at risk of attack by hostile forces. Together the Sable and Wolverine trained 17,820 pilots in 116,000 carrier landings. Of these, 51,000 landings were on Sable.
Billed as the "world's smallest aircraft carrier" from 1986 to 2011, the Baylander (IX-514) had conducted 120,000 helicopter training landings.