
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship. Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often used inconsistently, and frequently not at all. Sometimes a slash is used to separate the letters, as in "M/S". Naval prefixes came into use as abbreviations for longer titles, such as "His/Her Majesty's Ship" in the Royal Navy, abbreviated "H.M.S" and then "HMS". Earlier uses often included the type of vessel, as for instance "U.S.F." ("United States Frigate") for frigates of the United States Navy. Today the common practice is to use a single prefix for all warships of a nation's navy, and other prefixes for auxiliaries and ships of allied services, such as coast guards. The use of ship prefixes is not universal; in particular neither the Third Reich's Kriegsmarine nor the Imperial Japanese Navy used ship prefixes. Some English-language writers use prefixes like "DKM" (for "Deutsche Kriegsmarine") and "HIJMS" (for "His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Ship") or "IJN" (for "Imperial Japanese Navy", a translation of 大日本帝国海軍 ''dai-nippon teikoku kaigun'') for consistency with "HMS" and "USS". Other writers follow the practice of the navy and omit any prefix. From the 20th century onwards, most navies identify ships by hull numbers — identification codes typically painted on the side of the ship. Each navy has its own system: the United States Navy uses hull classification symbols, and the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth use pennant numbers. == Table of ship prefixes == This table lists both current and historical prefixes known to have been used. {| |- ! align=left| Country ! align=left| Service ! align=left width=120| Prefix ! align=left| Meaning |- |generic |all |DSV |Deep Submergence Vessel |- |generic |all |MS |Motor Ship |- |generic |all |MSY |Motor Sailing Yacht |- |generic |all |MT |Motor Tanker |- |generic |all |MV |Motor Vessel |- |generic |all |NS |Nuclear Ship |- |generic |all |PS |Paddle steamer |- |generic |all |RV |Research vessel |- |generic |all |SS |Steamship |- |generic |all |SV |Sailing ship |- |generic |all |TS |Turbine Steamer |- |Argentina |Military of Argentina |ARA |''Armada de la Republica Argentina'' |- |Australia |Military of Australia |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's Australian Ship |- |Bahamas |Military of Bahamas |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's Bahamian Ship |- |Bangladesh |Bangladesh Navy |BNS |Bangladesh Naval Ship |- |Barbados |Military of Barbados |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's Barbadian Ship |- |Belgium |Military of Belgium |BNS |Belgium Naval Ship (NATO prefix) |- |Canada |Military of Canada |Her Majesty's Canadian Ship |His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship |- |Canada |Canadian Coast Guard |Canadian Coast Guard Ship |Canadian Coast Guard Ship |- |Canada |Canadian Coast Guard |Canadian Coast Guard Cutter |Canadian Coast Guard Cutter |- |Colombia |Military of Colombia |ARC |Armada de la Republica de Colombia |- |Confederate States of America |Confederate States Navy |CSS |Confederate States Ship |- |Denmark |Royal Danish Navy |HDMS (Danish: KDM) |His/Her Danish Majesty's Ship (Danish: ''Kongelige Danske Marine'') |- |Ecuador |Military of Ecuador |BAE |Buque de la Armada de Ecuador |- |Estonia |Estonian Navy |ENS (Estonian: EML) |Estonian Naval Ship (NATO designation) |- |Estonia |Estonian Navy |ECGS |Estonian Coast Guard Ship (NATO designation) |- |Fiji |Military of Fiji |RFNS |Republic of Fiji Naval Ship |- |Finland |Finnish Navy |FNS |Finnish Navy Ship |- |France |French Navy |FS |French Ship (NATO designation); France does not use prefixes internally |- |German Empire |Kaiserliche Marine |SM U-## |Seiner Majestät Unterseeboot |- |German Empire |Kaiserliche Marine |List_of_ships_of_the_German_navies |Seiner Majestät Schiff |- |Germany (Third Reich) |Kriegsmarine |— |(no prefix; some authors use "DKM" for "Deutsche Kriegsmarine") |- |Germany |Bundesmarine |FGS |Federal German Ship (NATO designation) |- |Greece |Hellenic Navy |HS |Hellenic Ship (NATO designation) |- |Guyana |?? |GDFS |Guyanan Defense Forces Ship |- |India |Indian Navy (pre-Republic) |HMIS |His/Her Majesty's Indian Ship |- |India |Military of India |INS |Indian Naval Ship |- |Indonesia |Military of Indonesia |KRI |Kapal Republik Indonesia (Republic of Indonesia Ship) |- |Ireland, Republic of |Irish Naval Service |LÉ |''Long Éireannach'' — Irish ship |-|- |Israel |Israel Navy |INS |Israeli Naval Ship |- |Italy, Kingdom (until 1946) |Regia Marina |RN |''Regia Nave'' -- Royal Ship |- |Italy, Kingdom (until 1946) |Regia Marina |RS |''Reale Sottomarino'' -- Royal Submarine |- |Italy, Republic (since 1946) |Marina Militare |NMM |''Nave Marina Militare'' -- Navy Ship |- |Japan |Imperial Japanese Navy |— |(no prefix; some authors use "HIJMS" for "His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Ship") |- |Japan (after WWII) |Japan Self-Defense Forces |JDS |JMSDF Defense Ship |- |Kenya |? |KNS |Kenyan Naval Ship |- |Latvia |Latvian Navy |LVS |Latvian Ship (NATO designation) |- |Lithuania |Lithuanian Navy |LNS |Lithuanian Ship (NATO designation) |- |-|Malaysia |Military of Malaysia |KD |''Kapal Di-Raja'' — Royal Ship |- |Netherlands |Royal Netherlands Navy |HNLMS (Dutch: Hr.Ms. or Zr.Ms.) |His/Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship (Dutch: ''Harer Majesteits'' or ''Zijner Majesteits'') |- |New Zealand |Military of New Zealand |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship |- |Nigeria |? |NNS |Nigerian Naval Ship |- |Norway |Royal Norwegian Navy |HNoMS (Norwegian: KNM) |His Norwegian Majesty's Ship (Norwegian: ''Kongelige Norske Marine'') |- |Norway |Royal Norwegian Navy |KV |''Kystvakt'' |- |Oman |? |SNV |Sultanate Naval Vessel |- |Pakistan |Military of Pakistan |PNS |Pakistani Naval Ship |- |Papua New Guinea |? |HMPNGS |His/Her Majesty's Papua New Guinea Ship |- |Peru |Military of Peru |BAP |''Buque Armada Peruana'' |- |Philippines |Military of the Philippines |BRP |''Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas'' |- |Poland |Polish Navy |ORP |Polish Republic Naval Ship
(Polish: ''Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej'') |- |Portugal |Military of Portugal |NRP |Portuguese Republic Ship (''Navio da República Portuguesa'') |- |Saudi Arabia |Military of Saudi Arabia |Her Majesty's Ship |His Majesty's Ship — the same as the Royal Navy |- |Singapore |Republic of Singapore Navy |RSS |Republic of Singapore Ship |- |South Africa |South African Navy |SAS |South African Ship |- |Spain |Armada Espanola |SPS |Spanish Naval Ship |- |Sri Lanka |Sri Lanka Navy |SLNS |Sri Lanka Naval Ship |- |Sweden |Royal Swedish Navy |HMS |His/Her Majesty's Ship — the same as the Royal Navy |- |Taiwan (Republic of China) |Republic of China Navy |ROCS |Republic of China Ship |- |Thailand |Royal Thai Navy |HTMS |His Thai Majesty's Ship |- |Turkey |Turkish Navy |TCG |''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Gemisi'' |- |Trinidad & Tobago |? |TTS |Trinidad & Tobago Ship |- |United Kingdom |Ships carrying mail |RMS |Royal Mail Steamer |- |United Kingdom |Royal Fleet Auxiliary |RFA |Royal Fleet Auxiliary |- |United Kingdom |Hospital ships |HMHS |His/Her Majesty's Hospital Ship |- |United Kingdom |Royal Navy |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's Ship/Submarine |- |United Kingdom |British Army |HMAV |His/Her Majesty's Army Vessel (not currently in use) |- |United Kingdom |Royal Air Force |HMAFV |His/Her Majesty's Air Force Vessel (not currently in use) |- |United Kingdom |Royal Navy |Her Majesty's Yacht |His/Her Majesty's Yacht (not currently in use) |- |United Kingdom |Royal Navy |Her Britannic Majesty's Ship |His/Her Britannic Majesty's Ship (archaic) |- |United Kingdom |Royal Navy |HMT |His/Her Majesty's Tug or Troopship |- |United Kingdom |Government research ships |RRS |Royal Research Ship |- |United States |United States Army |USAV |United States Army Vessel |- |United States (obsolete) |United States Navy |USF |United States Frigate |- |United States (obsolete) |U.S. Navy |USFS |United States Flagship |- |United States |U.S. Navy |USS |United States Ship |- |United States |U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command |USNS |United States Naval Ship | |- |United States |U.S. Coast Guard |USCGC |United States Coast Guard Cutter |- |Uruguay |Uruguay Navy |ROU |''Republica Oriental del Uruguay'' |- |Venezuela |Venezuelan Navy |ARV |''Armada Republica Venezolana'' |} In the Royal Netherlands Navy, "HNLMS" is the prefix in English, a translation of the Dutch original "Hr.Ms." or "Zr.Ms.". "Hr.Ms." should preferably not be used English-language documents; nevertheless it is often seen on the World Wide Web. Until the moment a Dutch naval ship officially enters active service in the fleet, the ship's name is used without the prefix. In the United States Navy, all prefixes other than "USS," "USNS" and "USCGC" were obsoleted in 1901 when President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt signed into law a bill fixing American naval nomenclature. A United States ship that has not yet been commissioned in the Navy does not hold the title of USS, it holds the title of PCU (Pre-commissioned unit). For example, say a shipyard is building a new aircraft carrier:—the ''Neversail''. From the date the keel is laid to the date it is commissioned, it is called the PCU ''Neversail''. Only after it enters active service in the fleet and is commissioned will it be referred to as the USS ''Neversail''. In Australia, the prefix NUSHIP is used to denote ships that have yet to be commissioned into the fleet. Note that while calling a US ship "the USS ''Neversail''" may make grammatical sense, the preliminary article "the" is deprecated by nearly all style guides. Its British equivalent ("the HMS ''Neversail''") is also deprecated, since "the Her Majesty's Ship" would be grammatically incorrect. ''See also'' the Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships. == External links == * [http://www.seawaves.com/prefixes.htm Warship National Prefixes] Nautical terms
See also Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (ships). ---- I made List of battleships of the Japanese Navy and based on my knowledge of the Japanese Navy, decided not to add 'IJN' or 'HIJN' prefix. However, if there should be a prefix, I purpose that it be the same one as the Great Britain's, 'HMS' from the historical point. The Japanese Navy was basically modeled after that of the Great Britain as most of teachers came from there. Most of the training and even the point of officers having to buy his daily meals were copied from Great Britain's Navy and it seems fitting and apropriate that the prefix to be copied too. Yes, it's true that a translation of ''Teikoku Kaigun'' would be 'Imperial Navy' but I don't think this would have been the prefix as the Great Britain of that time was called 'British Empire' but was never called 'BEN' or 'BIN'. A Japanese Navy ship visited Britain back around 1930s and there might be a news article in the library in Britain with newspaper clipping from that time. Please check, thanks. User:Revth 15:24, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC) : Many navies do not have a standard prefix for their ships; e.g., Germany under the Kaiser used "SMS" (and "SMU"), but under Hitler used nothing. I suggest that ships from those navies be disambiguated as [[COUNTRY TYPE NAME) -- e.g.,Japanese battleship Yamato -- rather than by making up an English-language-based abbreviation that was never used by the ship's crew. --User:The Epopt 18:51, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
:: The Japan issue is also covered at Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (ships). It's true that HIJMS is English-based, but its use by Togo shows its hardly a foreign invention the Japanese never heard of, and wouldn't approve of. It's also of long standing at this point, having been in use before WWII in Western naval circles. User:Jnc 12:08, 18 Sep 2004 (UTC)
:::If there's only one example usage in all of the volumes of English verbiage written by Japanese in the years from the 1860s to the 1940s, that strongly suggests it's a fluke rather than a pattern. Pre-WWII Western writers were not very good in the cross-cultural awareness department, would have casually assumed British practice as the global standard and not troubled to inquire further. If "HIJMS" really was standard, it should have thousands of uses to cite, and we wouldn't have to be holding up a scrawled note on a postcard as our "proof". User:Stan Shebs 14:25, 18 Sep 2004 (UTC)
:: Hey, the Togo one was one I found in a few minutes with a quick web search. That hardly constitutes proof that it's the "only one example". And what's the source for your blithe assumption that pre-WWII British were incapable of cultural sensitivity? Yes, many were - but many were also very perceptive and sensitive observers. Also, this is an ''English-language'' encylopaedia, so we call e.g. it "Japan", not "Nippon". The modern "JDS" is definitely therefore not what the Japanese (another "our word") would use, since it uses "J" from "Japanese". If HIJMS is the long-standing Western usage, that counts for something. If Togo thinks it's the appropriate term to use when writing in English, who are we to say we know better? User:Jnc 04:39, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)
::: I've done lengthier searches, including in the university library, and come up dry. Nations do have official foreign-language equivalents for their prefixes - Norway and the Netherlands are two obvious examples. You can go to their websites, to Jane's, etc, and get authoritative declarations of preferred English-language prefix. Conversely, I have 15 volumes of Morison, who talks about hundreds of Japanese ships and never once uses "HIJMS" even when it would be extremely convenient, and my other books do likewise. At this point I'm wondering if maybe it's like an urban legend or something. Who's the earliest writer known to have used the prefix? User:Stan Shebs 05:34, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)
----
TS is missing, which leaves out turbine steamers like the TS Queen Mary - the tables look scary to edit, but could someone who knows how to edit it please add this. - User:Dave souza 21:07, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
== Italian 'Regia Marina' ==
The Italian Regia Marina adopted the 'R.N.' (''Regia Nave'') prefix for its ships, and 'R.S.' (''Regio Sottomarino'') for its submarines. Should this prefixes be included in the table? Any objections? As an example, see the page for the [http://xoomer.virgilio.it/bk/MuseoLaSpezia/RN%20Leonardo%20da%20Vinci/ RN Leonardo da Vinci] in La Spezia. --User:Panairjdde 13:38, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)
:Do you have an official reference that confirms this? I note that the Marina Militare's own database of Italian ships [http://www.marina.difesa.it/storia/Almanacco/Navi000.htm] contains no ship prefixes. User:Gdr 01:02, 2004 Dec 16 (UTC)
== Auxilliary Vessel, Motor-Sailor ==
An auxilliary vessel is a civilian sailing craft with an internal permanently mounted engine used primarily for in-port maneuvering. On some vessel documents they are refered to as AV Vessel Name.
Similarly, Motor-sailors are sailing craft designed primarily to sail with the motor running, and are occasionally (more rarely) referred as MS Vessel Name.
I'm getting more info from the U.S. Coast Guard, and as soon as I have the specifics from the federal registry I will update the article. - User:Amgine 23:33, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Ship_prefix:
Ship_prefix
Ship_prefix
Ship_prefixes
Ship prefix
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship. Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often used inconsistently, and frequently not at all. Sometimes a slash is used to separate the letters, as in "M/S". Naval prefixes came into use as abbreviations for longer titles, such as "His/Her Majesty's Ship" in the Royal Navy, abbreviated "H.M.S" and then "HMS". Earlier uses often included the type of vessel, as for instance "U.S.F." ("United States Frigate") for frigates of the United States Navy. Today the common practice is to use a single prefix for all warships of a nation's navy, and other prefixes for auxiliaries and ships of allied services, such as coast guards. The use of ship prefixes is not universal; in particular neither the Third Reich's Kriegsmarine nor the Imperial Japanese Navy used ship prefixes. Some English-language writers use prefixes like "DKM" (for "Deutsche Kriegsmarine") and "HIJMS" (for "His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Ship") or "IJN" (for "Imperial Japanese Navy", a translation of 大日本帝国海軍 ''dai-nippon teikoku kaigun'') for consistency with "HMS" and "USS". Other writers follow the practice of the navy and omit any prefix. From the 20th century onwards, most navies identify ships by hull numbers — identification codes typically painted on the side of the ship. Each navy has its own system: the United States Navy uses hull classification symbols, and the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth use pennant numbers. == Table of ship prefixes == This table lists both current and historical prefixes known to have been used. {| |- ! align=left| Country ! align=left| Service ! align=left width=120| Prefix ! align=left| Meaning |- |generic |all |DSV |Deep Submergence Vessel |- |generic |all |MS |Motor Ship |- |generic |all |MSY |Motor Sailing Yacht |- |generic |all |MT |Motor Tanker |- |generic |all |MV |Motor Vessel |- |generic |all |NS |Nuclear Ship |- |generic |all |PS |Paddle steamer |- |generic |all |RV |Research vessel |- |generic |all |SS |Steamship |- |generic |all |SV |Sailing ship |- |generic |all |TS |Turbine Steamer |- |Argentina |Military of Argentina |ARA |''Armada de la Republica Argentina'' |- |Australia |Military of Australia |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's Australian Ship |- |Bahamas |Military of Bahamas |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's Bahamian Ship |- |Bangladesh |Bangladesh Navy |BNS |Bangladesh Naval Ship |- |Barbados |Military of Barbados |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's Barbadian Ship |- |Belgium |Military of Belgium |BNS |Belgium Naval Ship (NATO prefix) |- |Canada |Military of Canada |Her Majesty's Canadian Ship |His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship |- |Canada |Canadian Coast Guard |Canadian Coast Guard Ship |Canadian Coast Guard Ship |- |Canada |Canadian Coast Guard |Canadian Coast Guard Cutter |Canadian Coast Guard Cutter |- |Colombia |Military of Colombia |ARC |Armada de la Republica de Colombia |- |Confederate States of America |Confederate States Navy |CSS |Confederate States Ship |- |Denmark |Royal Danish Navy |HDMS (Danish: KDM) |His/Her Danish Majesty's Ship (Danish: ''Kongelige Danske Marine'') |- |Ecuador |Military of Ecuador |BAE |Buque de la Armada de Ecuador |- |Estonia |Estonian Navy |ENS (Estonian: EML) |Estonian Naval Ship (NATO designation) |- |Estonia |Estonian Navy |ECGS |Estonian Coast Guard Ship (NATO designation) |- |Fiji |Military of Fiji |RFNS |Republic of Fiji Naval Ship |- |Finland |Finnish Navy |FNS |Finnish Navy Ship |- |France |French Navy |FS |French Ship (NATO designation); France does not use prefixes internally |- |German Empire |Kaiserliche Marine |SM U-## |Seiner Majestät Unterseeboot |- |German Empire |Kaiserliche Marine |List_of_ships_of_the_German_navies |Seiner Majestät Schiff |- |Germany (Third Reich) |Kriegsmarine |— |(no prefix; some authors use "DKM" for "Deutsche Kriegsmarine") |- |Germany |Bundesmarine |FGS |Federal German Ship (NATO designation) |- |Greece |Hellenic Navy |HS |Hellenic Ship (NATO designation) |- |Guyana |?? |GDFS |Guyanan Defense Forces Ship |- |India |Indian Navy (pre-Republic) |HMIS |His/Her Majesty's Indian Ship |- |India |Military of India |INS |Indian Naval Ship |- |Indonesia |Military of Indonesia |KRI |Kapal Republik Indonesia (Republic of Indonesia Ship) |- |Ireland, Republic of |Irish Naval Service |LÉ |''Long Éireannach'' — Irish ship |-|- |Israel |Israel Navy |INS |Israeli Naval Ship |- |Italy, Kingdom (until 1946) |Regia Marina |RN |''Regia Nave'' -- Royal Ship |- |Italy, Kingdom (until 1946) |Regia Marina |RS |''Reale Sottomarino'' -- Royal Submarine |- |Italy, Republic (since 1946) |Marina Militare |NMM |''Nave Marina Militare'' -- Navy Ship |- |Japan |Imperial Japanese Navy |— |(no prefix; some authors use "HIJMS" for "His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Ship") |- |Japan (after WWII) |Japan Self-Defense Forces |JDS |JMSDF Defense Ship |- |Kenya |? |KNS |Kenyan Naval Ship |- |Latvia |Latvian Navy |LVS |Latvian Ship (NATO designation) |- |Lithuania |Lithuanian Navy |LNS |Lithuanian Ship (NATO designation) |- |-|Malaysia |Military of Malaysia |KD |''Kapal Di-Raja'' — Royal Ship |- |Netherlands |Royal Netherlands Navy |HNLMS (Dutch: Hr.Ms. or Zr.Ms.) |His/Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship (Dutch: ''Harer Majesteits'' or ''Zijner Majesteits'') |- |New Zealand |Military of New Zealand |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship |- |Nigeria |? |NNS |Nigerian Naval Ship |- |Norway |Royal Norwegian Navy |HNoMS (Norwegian: KNM) |His Norwegian Majesty's Ship (Norwegian: ''Kongelige Norske Marine'') |- |Norway |Royal Norwegian Navy |KV |''Kystvakt'' |- |Oman |? |SNV |Sultanate Naval Vessel |- |Pakistan |Military of Pakistan |PNS |Pakistani Naval Ship |- |Papua New Guinea |? |HMPNGS |His/Her Majesty's Papua New Guinea Ship |- |Peru |Military of Peru |BAP |''Buque Armada Peruana'' |- |Philippines |Military of the Philippines |BRP |''Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas'' |- |Poland |Polish Navy |ORP |Polish Republic Naval Ship
(Polish: ''Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej'') |- |Portugal |Military of Portugal |NRP |Portuguese Republic Ship (''Navio da República Portuguesa'') |- |Saudi Arabia |Military of Saudi Arabia |Her Majesty's Ship |His Majesty's Ship — the same as the Royal Navy |- |Singapore |Republic of Singapore Navy |RSS |Republic of Singapore Ship |- |South Africa |South African Navy |SAS |South African Ship |- |Spain |Armada Espanola |SPS |Spanish Naval Ship |- |Sri Lanka |Sri Lanka Navy |SLNS |Sri Lanka Naval Ship |- |Sweden |Royal Swedish Navy |HMS |His/Her Majesty's Ship — the same as the Royal Navy |- |Taiwan (Republic of China) |Republic of China Navy |ROCS |Republic of China Ship |- |Thailand |Royal Thai Navy |HTMS |His Thai Majesty's Ship |- |Turkey |Turkish Navy |TCG |''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Gemisi'' |- |Trinidad & Tobago |? |TTS |Trinidad & Tobago Ship |- |United Kingdom |Ships carrying mail |RMS |Royal Mail Steamer |- |United Kingdom |Royal Fleet Auxiliary |RFA |Royal Fleet Auxiliary |- |United Kingdom |Hospital ships |HMHS |His/Her Majesty's Hospital Ship |- |United Kingdom |Royal Navy |Her Majesty's Ship |His/Her Majesty's Ship/Submarine |- |United Kingdom |British Army |HMAV |His/Her Majesty's Army Vessel (not currently in use) |- |United Kingdom |Royal Air Force |HMAFV |His/Her Majesty's Air Force Vessel (not currently in use) |- |United Kingdom |Royal Navy |Her Majesty's Yacht |His/Her Majesty's Yacht (not currently in use) |- |United Kingdom |Royal Navy |Her Britannic Majesty's Ship |His/Her Britannic Majesty's Ship (archaic) |- |United Kingdom |Royal Navy |HMT |His/Her Majesty's Tug or Troopship |- |United Kingdom |Government research ships |RRS |Royal Research Ship |- |United States |United States Army |USAV |United States Army Vessel |- |United States (obsolete) |United States Navy |USF |United States Frigate |- |United States (obsolete) |U.S. Navy |USFS |United States Flagship |- |United States |U.S. Navy |USS |United States Ship |- |United States |U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command |USNS |United States Naval Ship | |- |United States |U.S. Coast Guard |USCGC |United States Coast Guard Cutter |- |Uruguay |Uruguay Navy |ROU |''Republica Oriental del Uruguay'' |- |Venezuela |Venezuelan Navy |ARV |''Armada Republica Venezolana'' |} In the Royal Netherlands Navy, "HNLMS" is the prefix in English, a translation of the Dutch original "Hr.Ms." or "Zr.Ms.". "Hr.Ms." should preferably not be used English-language documents; nevertheless it is often seen on the World Wide Web. Until the moment a Dutch naval ship officially enters active service in the fleet, the ship's name is used without the prefix. In the United States Navy, all prefixes other than "USS," "USNS" and "USCGC" were obsoleted in 1901 when President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt signed into law a bill fixing American naval nomenclature. A United States ship that has not yet been commissioned in the Navy does not hold the title of USS, it holds the title of PCU (Pre-commissioned unit). For example, say a shipyard is building a new aircraft carrier:—the ''Neversail''. From the date the keel is laid to the date it is commissioned, it is called the PCU ''Neversail''. Only after it enters active service in the fleet and is commissioned will it be referred to as the USS ''Neversail''. In Australia, the prefix NUSHIP is used to denote ships that have yet to be commissioned into the fleet. Note that while calling a US ship "the USS ''Neversail''" may make grammatical sense, the preliminary article "the" is deprecated by nearly all style guides. Its British equivalent ("the HMS ''Neversail''") is also deprecated, since "the Her Majesty's Ship" would be grammatically incorrect. ''See also'' the Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships. == External links == * [http://www.seawaves.com/prefixes.htm Warship National Prefixes] Nautical terms
Ship prefix
See also Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (ships). ---- I made List of battleships of the Japanese Navy and based on my knowledge of the Japanese Navy, decided not to add 'IJN' or 'HIJN' prefix. However, if there should be a prefix, I purpose that it be the same one as the Great Britain's, 'HMS' from the historical point. The Japanese Navy was basically modeled after that of the Great Britain as most of teachers came from there. Most of the training and even the point of officers having to buy his daily meals were copied from Great Britain's Navy and it seems fitting and apropriate that the prefix to be copied too. Yes, it's true that a translation of ''Teikoku Kaigun'' would be 'Imperial Navy' but I don't think this would have been the prefix as the Great Britain of that time was called 'British Empire' but was never called 'BEN' or 'BIN'. A Japanese Navy ship visited Britain back around 1930s and there might be a news article in the library in Britain with newspaper clipping from that time. Please check, thanks. User:Revth 15:24, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC) : Many navies do not have a standard prefix for their ships; e.g., Germany under the Kaiser used "SMS" (and "SMU"), but under Hitler used nothing. I suggest that ships from those navies be disambiguated as [[COUNTRY TYPE NAME) -- e.g.,
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
S
SB | SC | SD | SE | SF | SG | SH | SI | SJ | SK | SL | SM | SN | SO | SP | SR | SS | ST | SU | SW | SX | SY | SZ |Words begining with Ship_prefix:
Ship_prefix
Ship_prefix
Ship_prefixes
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