Some of the largest ships ever constructed, these gargantuan giants of the seas have formed the basic units of conventional global power since December 7, 1941.
- CV-1 USS Langley - commissioned 1922, scuttled 1942, "The Covered Wagon"
- CV-2 USS Lexington - comissioned 1927, scuttled 1942, "Lady Lex"
- CV-3 USS Saratoga - commissioned 1927, atom bombed at Bikini Atoll 1946, "Sara"
- CV-4 USS Ranger - commissioned 1934, decommissioned 1946, "The Mighty R"
- CV-5 USS Yorktown - commissioned 1937, sunk at the Battle of Midway 1942, "The Fighting Lady"
- CV-6 USS Enterprise - commissioned 1938, decommissioned 1947, "The Big E"
- CV-7 USS Wasp - commissioned 1940, torpedoed by IJN submarine I-19 1942
- CV-8 USS Hornet - commissioned 1941, sunk 1942, "Fighting Lady"
- CV-9 USS Essex - commissioned 1942, decommissioned 1969, "Fightin'est Ship in The Fleet"
- CV-10 USS Yorktown - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1970, "The Fighting Lady"
- CV-11 USS Intrepid - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1974, "Fighting I"
- CV-12 USS Hornet - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1970, "Fighting Lady"
- CV-13 USS Franklin - commissioned 1944, decommissioned 1947, "Big Ben"
- CV-14 USS Ticonderoga - commissioned 1944, decommissioned 1973, "Big T"
- CV-15 USS Randolph - commissioned 1944, decommissioned 1969
- CV-16 USS Lexington - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1991, "The Blue Ghost"
- CV-17 USS Bunker Hill - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1947, "Holiday Express"
- CV-18 USS Wasp - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1972, "The Mighty Stinger"
- CV-19 USS Hancock - commissioned 1944, decommissioned 1976, "Fighting Hannah"
- CV-20 USS Bennington - commissioned 1944, decommissioned 1970
- CV-21 USS Boxer - commissioned 1945, decommissioned 1969, "Busy Bee"
- CVL-22 USS Independence - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1946
- CVL-23 USS Princeton - commissioned 1943, sunk in the Sibuyan Sea 1944
- CVL-24 USS Belleau Wood - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1947, transferred to France 1953, "Devil Dog"
- CVL-25 USS Cowpens - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1947, "Mighty Moo"
- CVL-26 USS Monterey - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1956
- CVL-27 USS Langley - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1947, transferred to France 1951
- CVL-28 USS Cabot - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1955, transferred to Spain 1967
- CVL-29 USS Bataan - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1954
- CVL-30 USS San Jacinto - commissioned 1943, decommissioned 1947
- CV-31 USS Bon Homme Richard - commissioned 1944, decommissioned 1971, "Bonnie Dick"
- CV-32 USS Leyte - commissioned 1946, decommissioned 1959
- CV-33 USS Kearsarge - commissioned 1946, decommissioned 1970, "Mighty Kay"
- CV-34 USS Oriskany - commissioned 1950, decommissioned 1979, "Mighty O"
- CV-35 USS Reprisal - cancelled 1945
- CV-36 USS Antietam - commissioned 1945, decommissioned 1963
- CV-37 USS Princeton - commissioned 1945, decommissioned 1973
- CV-38 USS Shangri-La - commissioned 1944, decommissioned 1971, "Tokyo Express"
- CV-39 USS Lake Champlain - commissioned 1945, decommissioned 1966, "Champ"
- CV-40 USS Tarawa - commissioned 1945, decommissioned 1960
- CV-41 USS Midway - commissioned 1945, decommissioned 1992
- CV-42 USS Franklin D. Roosevelt - commissioned 1945, decommissioned 1977, "Rosie"
- CV-43 USS Coral Sea - commissioned 1947, decommissioned 1990, "Ageless Warrior"
- CV-44 unnamed - cancelled 1943
- CV-45 USS Valley Forge - commissioned 1946, decommissioned 1970, "Happy Valley"
- CV-46 USS Iwo Jima - cancelled 1945
- CV-47 USS Philippine Sea - commissioned 1946, decommissioned 1958
- CVL-48 USS Saipan - commissioned 1946, name changed to USS Arlington 1965, decommissioned 1970
- CVL-49 USS Wright - commissioned 1947, decommissioned 1980
- CV-50 unnamed - cancelled 1945
- CV-51 unnamed - cancelled 1945
- CV-52 unnamed - cancelled 1945
- CV-53 unnamed - cancelled 1945
- CV-54 unnamed - cancelled 1945
- CV-55 unnamed - cancelled 1945
- CV-56 unnamed - cancelled 1945
- CV-57 unnamed - cancelled 1945
- CV-58 USS United States - cancelled 1949
- CV-59 USS Forrestal - commissioned 1955, decommissioned 1993, "FID"
- CV-60 USS Saratoga - commissioned 1956, decommissioned 1994, "Super Sara"
- CV-61 USS Ranger - commissioned 1957, decommissioned 1993, "Top Gun"
- CV-62 USS Independence - commissioned 1959, decommissioned 1998, "Indy"
- CV-63 USS Kitty Hawk - commissioned 1961, decommissioned 2009, "Battle Cat"
- CV-64 USS Constellation - commissioned 1961, decommissioned 2003, "Connie"
- CVN-65 USS Enterprise - commissioned 1961, decommissioned in 2017, "The Big E"
- CV-66 USS America - commissioned 1965, decommissioned 1996, "The Big A"
- CV-67 USS John F. Kennedy - commissioned 1968, decommissioned 2007, "Big John"
- CVN-68 USS Nimitz - commissioned 1975, active, "Old Salt"
- CVN-69 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower - commissioned 1977, active, "Mighty Ike"
- CVN-70 USS Carl Vinson - commissioned 1982, active, "Gold Eagle"
- CVN-71 USS Theodore Roosevelt - commissioned 1986, active, "TR" or "The Big Stick"
- CVN-72 USS Abraham Lincoln - commissioned 1989, active, "Abe"
- CVN-73 USS George Washington - commissioned 1992, active, "GW"
- CVN-74 USS John C. Stennis - commissioned 1995, active, "Johnny Reb"
- CVN-75 USS Harry S. Truman - commissioned 1998, active, "HST"
- CVN-76 USS Ronald Reagan - commissioned 2003, active, "The Gipper"
- CVN-77 USS George H. W. Bush - commissioned 2009, active, "Avenger"
- CVN-78 USS Gerald R. Ford - commissioned 2017, active
- CVN-79 USS John F. Kennedy, christened 2019, scheduled to be commissioned 2025
- CVN-80 USS Enterprise, laid down 2022, scheduled to be commissioned 2028
- CVN-81 USS Doris Miller, scheduled to be commissioned 2032
- CVN-82 ordered, not yet named, scheduled to be commissioned 2036