How Do Navy Ships Names Come About

ships names

Nancy Reagan christens USS Ronald Reagan (Photo courtesy of http://www.whitehouse.gov)

The navy ships names do not come about randomly; each country follows a naming tradition to name its navy ships. For people inclined about navy ships, just looking at the prefix, class, and name of the ship will let them know the nationality of the ship, its purpose, and probably even the decade they were made. So just how do different countries navy ships names come about?

Navy ships names tradition

USS Eisenhower

In the United States for example, the Navy Secretary’s office is responsible for coming up with ships names following a tradition. Like when you see a U.S. navy ship named after a state in the U.S., you’ll know that it’s a battleship. Their aircraft carriers were first named after famous battles and past battleships then later named after past presidents, congressmen, and senators. The Royal British Navy ships names of battleships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers retain inspirational names such as HMS Glorious or HMS Resolution. The Japanese battle ships names on the other hand carry the names of provinces in Japan; their aircraft carriers carry names of flying mythical creatures like phoenix and Ryujo (Sacred Dragon). Russian navy ships get the names of their cities like Kiev and Minsk and politicians or naval and revolutionary heroes.

Navy ships names prefix

ships names prefix

USNS Comfort

Navy ships names also carry a prefix that tells the nationality and type of the ship. The U.S. navy ships names for example carry prefixes of either USS (United States Ship) followed by its name as in USS Theodore Roosevelt and US (United States) followed by the type of ship such as NS for naval ship as in USNS Comfort. Other types of naval ship include Frigate (USF), Army Vessel (USAV), Naval Vessel (USNV), etc. The Royal British Navy ships on the other hand carry the HMS prefix, which stands for His/Her Majesty’s Ship. The Japanese and the Russians do not naturally use prefixes in their navy ships names, but sometimes Russian ships carry RFS that stands for Russian Federation Ship.

Civilian ships names

names of cruise ships

The civilian ships names are more general carrying a prefix that is not country specific followed by the name of the ship itself. The owner or the builder of the ship has the luxury of naming the ship. They can name their ships after their wives, children, or whatever good-sounding names they can think of. The prefix of civilian ships names tell the type of engine of the ship as in MV for motor vessel and SS for steamship and the purpose of the ship as in AHT for anchor handling tug.

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