The CV guide is a great guide, but I wanted to offer some pointers for CV1's. Why?

Because not all CV's are the same. In fact, of all classes of ships, I believe that the
aircraft carrier gets crammed into the strangest class. There is no 'escort' carrier
class, but in reality the roles of the carriers in the game vary widely.

The Pros of having a CV1:

Probably the biggest advantage of a CV1 is that nobody expects much of them.
However, they can be effective if used properly. Some of the best things a CV1 can
do with its resources:

-Shoot down enemy scouts
-Scout using its own scouts
-Sink torp whores
-Sink low to mid-level ships
-Provide fighter cover for BBs and other CVs

The cons of having a CV1:

One of the biggest cons is cost. You jump from having an all-round ship (CA) to the
worst carrier of your nation. It can be kind of a rude shock, and not only that, but
they often cost almost double the previous ship did.

Another downside is plane space. Some people might say launch capacity or crew
slots, but I think plane space is the worst. Why? Because often most CV1s also have
appriopriate-level pilots. Against any decent enemy AAW or fighter cover, your
planes WILL get shot down. More than anyone else, losing planes hurts a CV1 the
most. This also makes your ration of Fighters-Dive Bombers-Torpedo Bombers rather
tricky.

For many CV1s, speed is another weakness. I know in a Bogue, I cannot depend on
its maneuverability to save me. In fact, the speed is so inferior that not only am I an
easy target for dive bombers, but I tend to lag behind fellow cvs. This is probably
the biggest liability of a CV1. Speed is life, and beyond your limited CAP, there is
precious little to keep you afloat against enemy bombers.

In the face of all these disadvantages, many people that are powerleveling a BO to
use a CV often just skip the CV1 outright. After all, who wants to constantly run out
of planes and get sunk by only 2-3 dive bombers? Personally, I think it is a mistake
to skip this valueable step. I believe CV1s are EXCELLENT practice for being a great
CV driver, because you have to work so hard to compensate for your disadvantages.
You have to play up your strengths while covering your weaknesses. Some ways
I've found to compensate:

1.) Cluster! If there are bogues/attackers/hoshos on your team, stick together. One
CV1 is food, but by staying near each other, the CVs can benefit from overlapping
fighter coverage. Since CV1s carry so few planes and all but KM CV1 lack guns,
making the most out of fighters is a MUST.

2.) If you are a CV2/3, don't let your Chibi CV get left behind. he can help keep you
alive with fighter cover. Typically I try to follow bigger CVs around and enjoy mutual
protection- enemy planes typically target them over me, which makes it easier to
stay alive while protecting my bigger brother.

3.) Your planes are more susceptible to AAW than a CV3/4, and you have less to
spare. Therefore, rather than sending them on suicide missions against enemy BBs,
either attack torping DDs/CLs by yourself or help a bigger CV tackle a BB. One trick I
learned that works well is to have a group of 3 or 4 torpedo bombers on 'standby'.
When the yorktown I'm following launches planes, I launch mine and simply follow
his planes. Generally his planes are more robust and can survive enemy attack.
Typically, fighters will engage his first as well.

4.) Another thing you can do from a teamwork-perspective is to send fighters AHEAD
of another friendly CVs bombers. Granted your fighters will probably lose out, but
you benefit your CV teammates by clearing a path for their bombers. This works well
in GBII where winning is more crucial than simply doing lots of damage.