Every commissioned warship in the United States Navy bears a unique type designation; guided missile destroyers and nuclear attack submarines, for instance, are respectively known as "DDGs" and "SSNs." The traditional naval designation for an American fixed-wing fleet aircraft carrier is CV, which had its origins in a somewhat creative abbreviation of "carrier aviation." Over the years the fleet has seen a multitude of variations on that basic designation, reflecting different carrier roles: CVAs (attack carriers), CVLs (light aircraft carriers), CVEs (escort carriers), etc.

Today, the active U.S. aircraft carrier fleet consists of but two types: conventionally-powered CVs, and nuclear-powered CVNs. The great carriers actually deployed number few enough to count on the fingers of both hands. But they continue to form the centerpieces of the most powerful naval maneuver groups sailing the oceans today, deploying for months at a time to project American military presence around the globe. Stretched thinly across the operational areas of five numbered fleets, today's CV battle groups must sprint from trouble spot to distant trouble spot, one week in the Mediterranean, the next in the Persian Gulf. Maintaining this constant coverage with rapidly shrinking assets is a difficult, thankless task that one day may become impossible; policymakers inevitably must face the choice between reducing overseas commitments or increasing forces. But until then, the CV battle groups and the sailors who deploy in them will continue to work miracles in the course of making it all happen.

This Guide replaces the old "Status of Deployed Aircraft Carriers" page, which has become largely unnecessary in light of the U.S. Navy's own regularly updated Status of the Navy page. All ship's seals appearing below were taken from the official Navy web sites and modified to fit this format.

Built: Brooklyn Naval Shipyard
Commissioned: January 10, 1959
Status: Active Pacific Fleet
Last homeport: Yokosuka, Japan
Last associated air wing:: CVW-5
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Indy is presently the oldest serving ship in the USN. She played a direct role in the naval response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, participated in the Grenadan Urgent Fury operation in 1983, saw action off the coast of Lebanon that same year, was the first to respond to Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and relieved USS Midway as the only forward-deployed aircraft carrier in the fleet, a role which she filled until just recently. On July 8, 1998, Indy left Yokosuka for the last time, bound for the naval shipyard at Bremerton, Washington. There, on September 30, 1998, she will be decommissioned after more than thirty-nine years of long and faithful service.

USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63)
Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier

Built: Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
Commissioned: April 29, 1961
Status: Active Pacific Fleet
Homeport: Yokosuka, Japan
Last associated air wing:: CVW-11
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The Hawk has served all of her career in the Pacific Fleet, seeing action off the coasts of Vietnam, Somalia, Iran, and Iraq. In July, 1998, she relocated her homeport to Yokosuka, Japan, to relieve the departing USS Independence as the Navy's forward-deployed aircraft carrier.

USS Constellation (CV 64)
Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier

Built: New York Naval Shipyard
Commissioned: October 27, 1961
Status: Active Pacific Fleet
Homeport: San Diego, California
Last associated air wing:: CVW-2
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Connie has operated in the Pacific Fleet for all of her career, amassing a total of seven combat cruises off the coast of Vietnam. The Navy's only aces of that war, then-LT Randy Cunningham and LTJG Willie Driscoll, flew off the Connie as members of VF-96. During Desert Storm she was undergoing a three-year overhaul on the East Coast, but she soon returned to San Diego and has since deployed to the Gulf in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH.

USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
Enterprise-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: September 24, 1960
Status: Active Atlantic Fleet
Homeport: Norfolk, Virginia
Last associated air wing:: CVW-3
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The Big E was the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and has seen a long and distinguished career in both fleets. She spent her first three deployments in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, responding to the Cuban Missile Crisis along the way. In 1965, she transferred to the Pacific Fleet and made six combat cruises to Southeast Asia, then supported the evacuation of Saigon during Operation FREQUENT WIND. Enterprise took part in tanker escort operations in the Persian Gulf, clashing with the Iranian Navy in 1988, then stood off the Philippines during the 1989 coup attempt against President Corazon Aquino. More recently, Enterprise has cruised off Bosnia, supported strikes in Iraq, and has exercised from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. She has recently undergone a series of complex upgrades and overhauls, and despite her nearly forty years of continuous service, The Big E remains a formidable and thoroughly modern combatant.

USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67)
Kennedy-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: September 7, 1968
Status: Naval Reserve Force, Active
Homeport: Mayport, Florida
Last associated air wing: CVW-1
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JFK has spent all of her lengthy career operating in the Atlantic Fleet, operating in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. In 1983 she stood off the coast of Lebanon and launched some of the December raids against targets in the Bekaa Valley. In 1989, VF-32 F-14As flying from her deck downed two MiG-23s off the Libyan coast. During Desert Storm, JFK served as the Red Sea battle force flagship; Kennedy-based aircraft flew over 2,800 combat sorties in 114 strikes against Iraqi targets. On September 30, 1995, she was transferred to the Naval Reserve Force where she was designated the fleet "reserve-operational" carrier. The formal "reserve" designation, however, does not appear to have been followed by any corresponding reduction in her previous operational commitments, and it is rumored that she will be reclassified as active.

USS Nimitz (CVN 68)
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: May 3, 1975
Status: In 33-month overhaul
Homeport: Drydock 11, Newport News Shipbuilding
Last associated air wing:: CVW-9
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Nimitz spent the first eleven years of her career in the Atlantic Fleet, based out of Norfolk. She was involved in the aborted DESERT ONE operation to rescue American hostages in Iran, launching helicopters into the Iranian desert. Shortly thereafter she was involved in the 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident, when two Nimitz-based F-14As from VF-41 shot down a pair of Libyan Su-22s. In 1987, she transferred to the Pacific Fleet and began operations in the Western Pacific and the Persian Gulf, taking part in the 1988 EARNEST WILL Kuwaiti tanker escort operations. Nimitz arrived on station in the Gulf toward the end of DESERT STORM and promptly began enforcing the Iraqi No-Fly-Zone; she also provided a stabilizing presence during tensions between China and Taiwan in 1995. In 1997 she embarked on her last deployment before a scheduled overhaul, returning to the Atlantic Fleet in March, 1998. She is currently undergoing a three-year modernization and overhaul.

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: October 18, 1977
Status: Active Atlantic Fleet
Homeport: Norfolk, Virginia
Last associated air wing:: CVW-17
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Ike operates as part of the Atlantic Fleet and was involved in operations off Lebanon in 1983-84. She just completed an extensive modernization and is currently deployed in the Adriatic Sea. The crest shown above is a rather unofficial version of the ship's insignia.

USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: March 13, 1982
Status: Active Pacific Fleet
Homeport: Bremerton, Washington
Last associated air wing:: CVW-11
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The Gold Eagle is named after the late Congressman Carl Vinson, who was a strong supporter of the Navy and served in Congress longer than any other representative in history. She started her career with a round-the-world deployment from her Norfolk birthplace, arriving eight months later at its new home of NAS Alameda, California. From there she deployed to the Indian Ocean, the North Arabian Sea, the Bering Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Western Pacific, participating in a variety of exercises from PACEX to TEAM SPIRIT. In 1990, she entered the shipyard at Bremerton for a three-year overhaul, returning to NAS Alameda in 1993. In September 1996, The Gold Eagle entered combat for the first time, during a raid that saw Vinson-based F-14Ds supporting cruise missile strikes on Iraq. Shortly after her return from that deployment, Vinson left her longtime homeport at NAS Alameda (which was closing) and moved north to Bremerton, Washington, where she is currently based

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: October 25, 1986
Status: Active Atlantic Fleet
Homeport: Norfolk, Virginia
Last associated air wing:: CVW-8
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TR has operated in the Atlantic Fleet for all of her short but highly eventful career. She was present for both DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM, and eventually launched over 4,200 sorties during that conflict, the most of any aircraft carrier present. TR then provided coverage for Operation PROVIDE COMFORT, protecting Kurdish refugees from Iraqi reprisals. On her next deployment, TR enforced the No-Fly-Zones in both Bosnia and Iraq, and was involved in testing a new concept of teaming a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force with a CV battle group. On her next deployment TR participated in DELIBERATE FORCE strikes in Bosnia, and has since been involved in enforcing the Iraqi NFZ as part of SOUTHERN WATCH.

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: November 11, 1989
Status: Active Pacific Fleet
Homeport: Everett, Washington
Last associated air wing:: CVW-14
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Almost immediately after entering service in 1991, Lincoln was involved in Operation FIERY VIGIL, the emergency evacuation of personnel from Subic Bay in the Philippines. She then provided air coverage over Iraq immediately following DESERT STORM, and returned to the area on her next cruise to support SOUTHERN WATCH operations. During that cruise, Lincoln was also on station off the coast of Somalia during the events of October 1993. Since then, Lincoln has returned several times to the Western Pacific, and has been on hand to respond to events in Iraq. In 1995, she shifted homeport from NAS Alameda to Bremerton, Washington; in 1997 she moved to her present home at Naval Station Everett.

USS George Washington (CVN 73)
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: July 4, 1992
Status: In overhaul, Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Homeport: Norfolk, Virginia
Last associated air wing:: CVW-1
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The Spirit of Freedom has had a relatively short career in the Atlantic Fleet. She is currently undergoing an overhaul expected to last until March, 1999.

USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: December 9, 1995
Status: Active Pacific Fleet
Homeport: San Diego, California
Last associated air wing:: CVW-7
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Named for Senator John C. Stennis (D-MS), the "father of America's modern Navy," JCS is the second newest carrier in the fleet and has only made one deployment so far. She departed Norfolk on her maiden voyage in February of 1998, and sprinted straight to the Persian Gulf in a mere thirteen days in order to relieve George Washington, providing coverage over the Iraqi NFZ during her six month deployment. In late summer, she returned to States, arriving at her new homeport in San Diego on August 26. She will remain there until April, 1999, when she will begin working up for a January 2000 WESTPAC deployment.

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Built: Newport News Shipbuilding
Commissioned: July 25, 1998
Status: Active Atlantic Fleet
Homeport: Norfolk, Virginia
Last associated air wing:: None
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HST is a brand-new ship, having been accepted by the Navy on June 30, 1998, and commissioned into the fleet on July 25. She will deploy for the first time in late 2000.