List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy


s 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, CVA, CVB, CVL, CVN. Beginning with the, all carriers commissioned into service are classified as supercarriers. The United States Navy has also used escort aircraft carriers and airship aircraft carriers. This list does not include various amphibious warfare ships which can operate as carriers.
The first aircraft carrier commissioned into the United States Navy was USS Langley on 20 March 1922. The Langley was a converted Proteus-class collier, Langley was soon followed by the, , the, and. also was SARATOGA #3 and ENTERPRISE #6. These classes made up the entirety of the United States carrier fleet active prior to the Second World War.
With World War II looming, two more classes of carriers were commissioned under President Franklin Roosevelt: the, which are informally divided into regular bow and extended bow sub-classes, and the, which are classified as light aircraft carriers. Between these two classes, 35 ships were completed. During this time, the Navy also purchased two training vessels, USS Wolverine and USS Sable.
The Cold War led to multiple developments in the United States' carrier fleet, starting with the addition of the and the. One more class in the start of the Cold War, the United States-class, was 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 eventually revised after a public outcry and Congressional hearings sparked by the Revolt of the Admirals.
Later in the Cold War era, the first of the classes dubbed "supercarriers" was born, starting with the, followed by the ;, the first nuclear powered carrier; and, the last conventionally powered carrier. These were then 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. The ten-ship Nimitz-class is complete. The was launched in October 2013 and is the lead ship of her planned ten-ship Ford-class supercarriers. The was launched in October 2019 and construction is underway on.

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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. Together the Sable and Wolverine trained 17,820 pilots in 116,000 carrier landings. Of these, 51,000 landings were on Sable.
#NameImageClassCommissionedDecommissionedService lifeStatus
IX-64Wolverinen/a
12 August 19427 November 1945Scrapped in 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
IX-81Sablen/a
8 May 19437 November 1945Scrapped in 1948 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Aircraft carrier museums