Aircraft carrier

USS Enterprise (CVN-65), a 20th century aircraft carrier

An Aircraft carrier was a type of naval vessel in Earth's 20th and 21st century. Its design and size allowed for aircraft, including fighters, bombers, and helicopters, to be launched and retrieved at sea. It was characterized by a long, flat "flight deck" which served as a mobile air base, condensing apron, landing strip and runway into a small space. Many aircraft carriers after World War II were powered by nuclear fission.

Sent back in time to 1944, Alicia Travers mistook a statement by Jonathan Archer, thinking he was serving on the USS Enterprise, a WWII-era aircraft carrier. (ENT: "Storm Front")

When the crew of the destroyed Enterprise (NCC-1701) traveled back in time to the year 1986, they collected nuclear radiation from the reactor of the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). This enabled them to recrystallize the dilithium of their captured Klingon Bird-of-Prey. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

Background

In Star Trek IV, the "part" of USS Enterprise was actually filled by the conventionally-powered USS Ranger (CV-61, Forrestal class), because Enterprise was on deployment at the time of the movie's filming.

According to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual (pg.83) Earth-based aircraft carriers were phased out in 2051.