From 1922 until 1962, the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
, the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...
and the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...
used a system to designate their aircraft that included information about a craft's role and its manufacturer. For a listing of all such designations, see the
list of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962).
Background
The U.S. Navy used two sequential designation systems prior to 1922, neither of which directly conveyed information about the aircraft's mission. The first system, adopted in 1911, consisted of a single letter signifying the manufacturer and aircraft class followed by sequential numbers for individual aircraft.
In March 1914, the navy introduced a new system similar to
hull classification symbols for warships, with an alphabetical code for the aircraft class followed by sequential numbers for individual aircraft, with the designation of the first aircraft of a particular design being used as the type designation for similar aircraft; for instance, aircraft similar to ''
AH-8'' were referred to as ''AH-8 type''. The second system was abandoned in May 1917 without replacement; the navy began using the manufacturers' model designations.
The 1922 system
On 29 March 1922, a new designation system was introduced with a reorganization of U.S. naval aviation under the
Bureau of Aeronautics. The system conveyed its information in the form:
:(Mission)(Design Number)(Manufacturer)-(Subtype)(Minor Modification)
For example,
F4U-1A referred to a minor modification (A) to the first major subtype (1) of Chance-Vought's (U) fourth (4) fighter (F) design.
For the first few years after the system was introduced, the manufacturer's letter and the mission letter were sometimes reversed. If it was the manufacturer's first design for that particular mission, there was no number before the manufacturer letter.
Mission
The mission of the aircraft was designated by a one or two letter code. This code would also indicate whether the craft was a
glider
Glider may refer to:
Aircraft and transport Aircraft
* Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight
** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of gliding
...
(L),
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...
(H) or
lighter-than-air
A lifting gas or lighter-than-air gas is a gas that has a density lower than normal atmospheric gases and rises above them as a result. It is required for aerostats to create buoyancy, particularly in lighter-than-air aircraft, which include free ...
(Z). Duplicated codes were not in use at the same time.
Design number
In cases where an aircraft was its manufacturer's first design for a particular mission, the 1 would not be written. Thus the
Consolidated Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wit ...
patrol aircraft was the PBY, not PB1Y, and the
McDonnell Phantom was FH, not F1H.
Manufacturer
The codes used to denote manufacturers were not unique to a single company as they were reassigned, usually when the company had either ceased operations or had not produced an aircraft for the Navy for a considerable period of time. Additionally, aircraft built under license received a separate design number than the aircraft produced by the designing company. For example, Goodyear produced the
Vought F4U Corsair
The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...
as the FG and the
Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber was produced by General Motors as the TBM. Foreign aircraft generally did not receive a designation under this system unless they were to be built under license in the United States, or were built for use in the United States, such as aircraft built in Canada, including the
Fairchild-Canada SBF Helldiver and
Canadian-Vickers PBV Catalina.
Minor modifications
Letters were occasionally appended after the design number to denote minor modifications to the subtype; e.g. adding 'N' to the
Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat designated the
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...
-equipped
night fighter
A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...
version of that model: F6F-5N.
The first suffix to be used was "C" for aircraft modified for launching from an
aircraft catapult
An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carrier ...
on a
battleship
A battleship is a large armour, armored warship with a main artillery battery, battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1 ...
. Before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the suffixes were often consecutive, with many lacking defined meanings, and they were not often used. During the war, they came into wide use and were given defined meanings, but letters were duplicated and their meanings were inconsistent. For instance, the letter "A" was used both for deletion of the
tailhook from an aircraft normally so equipped (e.g. the
Douglas SBD-5A, used from land bases) and for addition of this equipment to a land-based aircraft; for
amphibious
Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to:
Animals
* Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water)
* Amphibious caterpillar
* Amphibious fish, a fish ...
versions of
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fuselag ...
s (e.g. the
Consolidated PBY-5A); for armament added to a normally unarmed type; and for miscellaneous modifications (e.g. the aforementioned F4U-1A). The addition of a tailhook to a land-based aircraft could also be designated with a "C", e.g. the
North American SNJ-5C, repeating the letter previously used for catapult-launched aircraft.
A significant wartime exception to this system was existing
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
(USAAF) types adopted by the Navy, such as the
North American B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
; in some such cases, the minor modification letter simply mirrored the
USAAF sub-type letter, e.g. the B-25H became the PBJ-1H.
End of the system
In 1962, the Department of Defense
unified its aircraft designation systems along the lines of the Air Force's system. Many Navy aircraft then in service were redesignated. For many planes, the mission letters and design numbers were retained, as the
Douglas AD Skyraider became the A-1 and the
McDonnell F4H Phantom II became the F-4. Some aircraft design numbers were not retained, like the North American Vigilante, which was redesignated from A3J to A-5 (the A-3 designation having already been assigned to the
A-3 Skywarrior
The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior is a jet-powered strategic bomber that was developed and produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was designed by Douglas on behalf of the United States Navy, which sought a carrier-capable strategic bomber. Durin ...
).
Similar systems
A very similar system, the
short system, was adopted by the
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
The was the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War.
The Japanese military acquired their first aircraft in 1910 ...
in the late 1920s that differed only in the use of the 1 for the first assigned type, having letters assigned to match Japanese aircraft and manufacturers, and not having a different number series for each manufacturer.
System examples
See also
*
United States Department of Defense aerospace vehicle designation
*
United States military aircraft designation systems
*
British military aircraft designation systems
British military aircraft designations are used to refer to aircraft types and variants operated by the armed forces of the United Kingdom.
Since the end of the First World War, aircraft types in British military service have generally been kn ...
*
Hull classification symbol
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ...
*
Italian Armed Forces aircraft designation system
*
List of military aircraft of the United States
Lists of military aircraft of the United States cover current and former aircraft of the United States Armed Forces.
By designation
* List of United States Air Force aircraft designations (1919–1962)
* List of United States Navy aircraft desi ...
*
List of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962)
*
RLM aircraft designation system
*
Soviet Union military aircraft designation systems
*
Japanese military aircraft designation systems
*
1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system
The Tri-Service aircraft designation system is a unified system introduced in 1962 by the United States Department of Defense for designating all U.S. military aircraft. Previously, the U.S. armed services used separate nomenclature systems. ...
*
References
Citations
Bibliography
*{{cite book , last1=Swanborough , first1=Gordon , last2=Bowers , first2=Peter M. , date=1976 , title=United States Navy Aircraft since 1911 , edition=2nd , location=Annapolis, Maryland , publisher=Naval Institute Press , isbn=0-87021-968-5
External links
Designation-Systems.net: Aircraft Redesignations in 1962
United States military aircraft
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...