Aircraft carrier

Warship that serves as a seagoing airbase

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed to carry, launch, recover and support aircraft at sea, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities that allow it to serve as a mobile, seagoing airbase. Typically it is the capital ship of a fleet (known as a carrier battle group), as it allows a naval force to project seaborne air power far from national territory without depending on local airfields for the staging of aircraft operations. Since their inception in the early 20th century, aircraft carriers have evolved from wooden vessels used to deploy individual tethered reconnaissance balloons, to nuclear-powered supercarriers that carry dozens of fighters, strike aircraft, military helicopters, AEW&Cs and other types of aircraft such as UCAVs.

From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA. More on occurri.