This glossary defines the various types of ships and accessory

watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sail, ...

that have been used in service of the United States. Such service is mainly defined as military vessels used in 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 ...

and

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, mult ...

, as well as the defunct, incorporated, or renamed institutions such as the

United States Revenue Cutter Service ) , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries=4 August , decorations= , battle_honours= , battle_honours_label= , disbanded=28 January 1915 , flying_hours= , website= , commander1= , co ...

. Service of the United States can also be defined in this context as special government missions in the form of expeditions, such as the

Wilkes Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

or the

North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition The North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition, also known as the Rodgers-Ringgold Expedition was a United States scientific and exploring project from 1853 to 1856. Commander Cadwalader Ringgold (1802–1867) led the expedition until ...

. The scope of the glossary encompasses both the "Old Navy" of the United States (sail or later steam vessels, with ship type named for the rigging or propulsion method x. steamer, cutter, schooner, from its beginnings as the "

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Adams ...

", through the "New Navy" (revolutionary steam or fueled vessels, with naming derived from a

hull classification 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 ind ...

scheme) and up to modern day. The watercraft included in the glossary are derived from United States ships with logbooks published by the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

A

Ammunition ship An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for naval ships and aircraft. An ammunition ship's cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks bet ...

A type of auxiliary ship specifically designed to store and transport ordinances or ammunition to combat ships.

Armed merchantman An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

A merchant or civilian vessel armed for military purposes, like water defense or raiding. May also be generally referred to as a "merchant raider".

Armed stores ship

See "

combat stores ship Combat stores ships, or storeships, were originally a designation given to ships in the Age of Sail and immediately afterward that navies used to stow supplies and other goods for naval purposes. Today, the United States Navy and the Royal Navy ...

Armed yacht An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. The word "yacht" ("hunter"; Dutch "jacht"; German "jagd", literally meaning "to hunt") was originally applied to small, fast and agile naval vessels ...

A yacht that was armed with weapons for naval service. Originally applied to small, fast and agile naval vessels, typically privately owned and expropriated or purchased for government use in times of war, most famously in World War II.

Armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...

A type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed to operate as a long-range, independent warship, with exceptional speed and large guns. Has protective metal plating on the decking as well as the sides of the hull.

Attack transport Attack transport is a United States Navy ship classification for a variant of ocean-going troopship adapted to transporting invasion forces ashore. Unlike standard troopships – often drafted from the merchant fleet – that rely on ...

An amphibious assault vessel that carries troops and their equipment (arms and landing crafts) in an invasion force. See "

Troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

Auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

A more modern (late 19th Century and onwards) name for a Navy

armed merchantman An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

, a merchant or civilian vessel armed for military purposes. Armed merchantmen of the World Wars would be classified as auxiliary cruisers as the standard term.

Auxiliary floating drydock An auxiliary floating drydock is a type of US Navy floating dry dock. Floating dry docks are able to submerge underwater and to be placed under a ship in need of repair below the water line. Water is then pumped out of the floating dry dock, r ...

A large portable

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

vessel that can submerge and raise out of water in order to provide mobile repair under the water line.

Auxiliary ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxil ...

A naval vessel, such as a tanker or supply ship, designed to operate in support of combatant ships and other naval operations. May also be referred to in a more specific ship type, such as an "auxiliary steamer".

Auxiliary steamer

An auxiliary ship powered by steam propulsion. See "

Auxiliary ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxil ...

B

Bark

A sailing vessel with three or more masts,

fore-and-aft rig A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing vessel rigged mainly with sails set along the line of the keel, rather than perpendicular to it as on a square rigged vessel. Description Fore-and-aft rigged sails include staysails, Bermuda rigged sails, gaff ...

ged on only the aftermost / mizzen mast. The other masts are

square-rigged Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' and ...

. Also spelled "barque", or "barc".

Barkentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing r ...

A sailing vessel with three or more masts,

on the foremast, while

fore-and-aft A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing vessel rigged mainly with sails set along the line of the keel, rather than perpendicular to it as on a square rigged vessel. Description Fore-and-aft rigged sails include staysails, Bermuda rigged sails, ga ...

rigged on the remaining masts. Also spelled "barquentine".

Barracks ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for sai ...

An unpropelled vessel used as temporary housing for sailors.

Barrier Boat The United States Navy's 19BB (Barrier Boat) was built by Chuck's Boat and Drive of Longview, Washington in 2002 to deploy and maintain port security booms surrounding Navy ships and installations in port. The first boat of the 13-boat order was ...

A small tug built to deploy and maintain port security booms surrounding Navy ships and installations in port.

Battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main 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 1880s to describe a type of ...

A large, heavily armored and heavily gunned powered warship, relatively slower than other naval craft due to its armaments.

Blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...

A merchant vessel intended to evade a blockade. Examples in American history can be seen in the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

using blockade runners to continue commercial trade abroad and move goods to support the war effort.

Bomb brig

A type of

bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons ( long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounte ...

, which is a wooden sailing naval ship constructed as a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

(two square-rigged masts). The primary armaments were

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...

mounted near the bow and elevated to a high angle, projecting their fire in a ballistic arc.

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

A sailing vessel characterized by two square-rigged masts.

Brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...

A two-masted sailing vessel composed of a full

foremast, and

ging on the mainmast. Can be further classified by specific setup, like a "hermaphrodite brig".

Broadside ironclad An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...

Earliest form of ironclad warship, with iron armor over the wooden hull and the weapons aligned on the sides of the ship.

Buoy tender

See "

Lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. In the United States, these ships originally served as part of the Lighthou ...

C

Canal boat

A type of

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

watercraft, thin and narrow with a shallow draft, suited to canals and other like waterways for transporting cargo and personnel.

Cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

A merchant vessel that carries goods and materials between ports. May also be referred to by the more general term, a freighter.

Casemate ironclad The casemate ironclad was a type of iron or iron-armored gunboat briefly used in the American Civil War by both the Confederate States Navy and the Union Navy. Unlike a monitor-type ironclad which carried its armament encased in a separate a ...

A type of iron-armored gunboat briefly used in the American Civil War. They had a single sloped (casemate) structure on the main deck housing the entire gun battery, effective at deflecting cannon shot.

Clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

A mid-nineteenth century merchant vessel which was lightweight and designed for speed. Name derived from the

Baltimore Clipper A Baltimore Clipper is a fast sailing ship historically built on the mid-Atlantic seaboard of the United States of America, especially at the port of Baltimore, Maryland. An early form of clipper, the name is most commonly applied to two-masted ...

Coal barge

A large, flat-bottomed vessel used in calm and interior waterways to transport coal.

Collier

A bulk cargo ship used to transport coal.

Combat stores ship Combat stores ships, or storeships, were originally a designation given to ships in the Age of Sail and immediately afterward that navies used to stow supplies and other goods for naval purposes. Today, the United States Navy and the Royal Navy ...

A vessel used to stow and carry supplies and other goods for naval purposes. Also referred to simply as a "storeship", or an "armed stores ship".

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

Traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or “rated”) warship, with guns organized on a single deck. Past the age of sail,

corvettes A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop ...

sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, and

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

were grouped together under the term "

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

Cottonclad ram

See "

Cottonclad warship Cottonclads were a classification of steam-powered warships where a wooden ship was protected from enemy fire by bales of cotton lining its sides. Cottonclads were prevalent during the American Civil War, particularly in the Confederate States Navy ...

Cottonclad warship Cottonclads were a classification of steam-powered warships where a wooden ship was protected from enemy fire by bales of cotton lining its sides. Cottonclads were prevalent during the American Civil War, particularly in the Confederate States Navy ...

A type of steam-powered warship, used in the American Civil War, in which a wooden ship was protected by a thick lining of cotton bales and was equipped with a ram. The bales also provided breastworks lining the deck for Confederate sailors. Also referred to as a "cottonclad ram".

Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

A type of warship intended for high speed battle capability and cruising distant waters. Can be used to encompass the terms "frigate" and "sloop" in the transition from sail to steam and fuel power.

Cutter

In the age of sail, a ship with one mast and two headsails, fast and with a shallow draft. The term may also encompass any ship in a cutter institution, like the

. Mainly completes coastal guarding, survey, and convoy escort duties. Other classes utilized for long-cruises and light ice-breaking, like the Tallapoosa-class cutter. Also used in 20th Century as turbine-electric-driven sloops, such as those loaned to the United Kingdom during WWII as "

Banff-class sloop The ''Banff''-class sloop was a group of ten warships of the Royal Navy. Built as United States Coast Guard Lake-class cutters, in 1941 these ships were loaned to the Royal Navy as antisubmarine warfare escort ships. The transfers took place at ...

s".

D

Depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...

A type of

auxiliary ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxil ...

used for supplying and repairing small naval groups that can also be used as a floating base of operation.

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

A warship designed to be fast, maneuverable, long-endurance and intended to escort larger vessels. Takes action to defend battleships and similar vessels against short range attackers, or to act as advanced scouts.

Destroyer tender A destroyer tender or destroyer depot ship is a type of depot ship: an auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of ...

A type of

ship's tender A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship, used to service or support other boats or ships. This is generally done by transporting people or supplies to and from shore or another ship. A second and distinctl ...

intended to provide maintenance, logistics, and repair for

destroyers In navy, naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a Naval fleet, fleet, convoy or Carrier battle group, battle group and defend them against powerful short range attack ...

while moored or anchored.

Dispatch boat Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore. Dispatch boats were employed when other means of transmitting a message w ...

A boat which carried messages, or mail (dispatches) between high-ranking military officials aboard other ships or to land-based destinations.

Distilling ship A distilling ship is a class of military ships, generally converted tankers, with the capability to convert salt water into fresh water. They were typically stationed at forward bases during conflict where they supported on-the-ground troops and ...

A class of energy-intensive military ships, generally converted tankers, with the capability to convert salt water into fresh water.

Double-ender

A ship where the bow and stern are similarly constructed to look the same.

Dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

An early form of

battleships A battleship is a large armored warship with a main 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 1880s to describe a type of ...

, popular in the early 1900s and World War One, based on the revolutionary ship

HMS Dreadnought Several ships and one submarine of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Dreadnought'' in the expectation that they would "dread nought", i.e. "fear nothing". The 1906 ship, which revolutionized battleship design, became one of the Royal Navy' ...

. Heavily equipped with at least ten high-caliber twelve-inch guns and steam propulsion systems.

Drone aircraft catapult control ship

A type of

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 ...

designed after World War Two to specialize in the launch and recovery of early drone aircraft at sea.

E

Extreme clipper An extreme clipper was a clipper designed to sacrifice cargo capacity for speed. They had a bow lengthened above the water, a drawing out and sharpening of the forward body, and the greatest breadth further aft. In the United States, extreme clipp ...

A type of

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

designed to sacrifice cargo for speed, on an already fast ship design.

F

Ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
boat

A merchant vessel used to carry people, vehicles, and goods across a water.

Flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

A vessel that carries the commanding officer of a fleet, and thus flies the commanding officer's flag.

Fleet replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The ...

A large cargo vessel with dry cargo holds and large fuel tanks used to restock ships in the rest of the fleet while at sea.

Frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

A warship that has had been designed for speed and maneuverability, ideal for patrolling, lookout, and escort duties, with fully-armed spar deck. Defined in the sailing era as a three-masted vessel with all

square rig Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' and ...

s. Modern frigates, usually called

s, are a class of medium-speed anti-submarine vessels.

G

Guard ship A guard ship is a warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbour, as opposed to a coastal patrol boat, which serves its protective role at sea. Royal Navy In the Royal Navy of the eighteenth century, peacetime guard ships were usual ...

A warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbor, maintaining a higher degree of action readiness. This is as opposed to a coastal

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

, which serves its protective role at sea.

Gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

A smaller naval warship designed to attack coastal targets, armed with one or more large naval guns. Other classes of gunboats are adapted to patrol interior waterways and to enforce the blockade, like the Unadilla-class gunboat of the American Civil War.

H

Heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...

A medium sized

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

, protected and armored as a cruiser, with large eight-inch guns or higher. Intended for long range and high speed objectives.

Heavy frigate

A type of

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

armed with over two-dozen eighteen-pounder cannons.

Hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...

A ship, designated or converted in emergency situations, to primarily function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. They have been used as field hospitals during times of war, or emergency hospitals in times of peace.

I

Icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

A type of auxiliary

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

of many forms (ex:

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

) designed to plow through icy waters in the Arctic or Antarctic, able to clear the way for other ships for voyages (like research or cargo transport).

Ironclad gunboat

A type of

ironclad warship An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. T ...

that is converted from or takes the specific configuration of a

Ironclad warship An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. T ...

A steam-propelled warship, armed with massive guns, and armored with iron and steel plates over a wooden hull ship or gunboat. Constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s, ironclad warships supplanted the wooden vessels as the most powerful warship on the coast and rivers, seen in the American Civil War with the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia. May also be referred to simply as an "ironclad".

K

Ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

A small sailing vessel with two masts (usually fore-and-aft rigged) and a square stern.

L

Light aircraft carrier A light aircraft carrier, or light fleet carrier, is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft only one-h ...

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

smaller in capacity than full sized variants, used in World War II to fill a gap fleet allotments for carriers because they could be produced quicker and cheaper. Later converted into antisubmarine carriers and

amphibious assault Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

support.

Light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

A smaller to medium-sized

, protected and armored like a

, but with six-inch guns or below.

Light-draft gunboat

A smaller type of

, usually lightly-armored, and specialized for rivers due to its low water displacement. Name may vary; draft may be replaced with "draught".

Light-draft monitor

A type of

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

that had a lighter armor for a lighter draft sitting in water, like the Casco-class named after the U.S.S. Casco. Name may vary; draft may be replaced with "draught".

Lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. In the United States, these ships originally served as part of the Lighthou ...

A ship specifically designed to support and maintain lighthouses or

lightvessel A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, t ...

s by providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. Accessory tasks include search and rescue, and law enforcement aid. May also be referred to as "buoy tender".

M

Merchant raider Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels. History Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...

See "

Armed merchantman An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

Minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

Vessels outfitted with special equipment to detect and clear naval mines. Popular in World War Two for use in coastal areas (for landings) and shipping lanes.

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

A type of small, heavily armed (single or multiple turrets), and superior armored warship, designed for shallow waters such as coastal areas (similar to the

river monitors River monitors are military craft designed to patrol rivers. They are normally the largest of all riverine warships in river flotillas, and mount the heaviest weapons. The name originated from the US Navy's , which made her first appearance in ...

). The first successful ironclad monitor lent the name of the warship type, the U.S.S. Monitor. Specific monitors like the Passaic-class, named after the U.S.S. Passaic, were larger with thicker hull plating, larger guns, better steering, and an improved pilot house design.

Mortar gunboat

A type of

commissioned during the American Civil War, outfitted with 13-inch

and firing platforms to bombard fortifications from the water.

Mortar schooner

A type of

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

commissioned during the American Civil War, outfitted with 13-inch

and firing platforms to bombard fortifications from the water.

Motorboat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

Any watercraft powered by a motor, usually referring more specifically to a boat transporting officers.

N

Naval trawler

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate Trawling, fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing ...

converted for naval military purposes, armed and reinforced with steel hulls and armor. Popular during the World Wars as emergency use ships for duties like anti-submarine warfare.

P

Paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

A type of

that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water.

Passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

Any merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers at sea. According to international maritime, a passenger ship carries at least 12 people.

Patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

A relatively small naval vessel intended for defensive purposes. Different classes of patrol boats have characteristics for specialized purposes such as coastal defense, border protection, anti-submarine warfare, immigration law-enforcement, ice breaking, and search and rescue duties.

Patrol gunboat

built in the configuration and size of a

Picket boat A picket boat is a type of small naval craft. These are used for harbor patrol and other close inshore work, and have often been carried by larger warships as a ship's boat. They range in size between 30 and 55 feet. Patrol boats, or any craft en ...

A small type of naval craft used for harbor patrol and other inshore work, like sentry or warning duties.

Pilot boat A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship ...

A vessel used to transport naval personnel (such as helmsmen) from harbors to another vessel in need of a pilot.

Powder tugboat

A type of

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

equipped to transport powder reserves. See U.S.S. Port Fire and U.S.S. Blue Light.

Pre-dreadnought battleship Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, prote ...

A type of

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main 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 1880s to describe a type of ...

popular before the revolutionary battleship,

. Carried guns of varying sizes wherever the guns would fit on the deck, with emphasis on smaller caliber guns for close range combat.

Prison ship A prison ship, often more accurately described as a prison hulk, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. While many nation ...

A vessel that has been converted to serve as a detention for excess prisoners, usually prisoners-of-war in times of conflict.

Protected cruiser

A type of naval

of the late nineteenth century with an armored deck that protects machines from shrapnel.

R

Ram

A type of warship outfitted with a naval ram on the bow, reinforced and possibly metal-plated as the principal weapon of the ship.

Receiving ship

A type of Hulk (ship type), hulk used in harbors, usually obsolete or unseaworthy, meant to house newly recruited sailors or transfers before assignment to a ship's crew or station.

Reconnaissance vessel

See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Spy ship, Spy ship".

Repair ship

A naval

designed to act as a mobile base to provide maintenance support and repairs to warships during times of conflict, and to act as a training station for emergency mechanical situations in times of peace.

Research vessel

A ship specially equipped to carry out sea research and voyages of exploration, usually with fitting and instrumentation customized to the mission at hand.

Revenue cutter

A Cutter (boat)#Customs services, cutter specifically used for customs and naval law enforcement purposes, designed for speed as with any cutter.

River gunboat

A type of

specially suited for use in rivers, with a shallow draft (6 feet or less) and up to three rudders for swift currents.

River monitor

A type of Ironclad warship, ironclad

designed to patrol rivers, heavily armed and with a very shallow draft.

S

Sailing ship

Any naval vessel whose power is derived from sail and wind, provided that any propelling mechanisms (if equipped) are not being used.

Schooner

A Fore-and-aft rig, fore and aft-rigged sailing vessel with two or more masts of which the foremast is shorter than the main.

Scout cruiser

A type of

that is smaller, and thus faster. These ships are for reconnaissance more so than fighting, and are thus more lightly armed and with a better range than protected cruisers or light cruisers.

Steam frigate, Screw corvette

A version of a corvette ship that is driven by a Propeller#Screw propeller, screw propulsion system, made popular during WWII for being long-range and nearly as fast as a U-boat in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Screw frigate

See "Steam frigate".

Screw gunboat

A gunboat that utilizes a screw-propulsion system. See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Gunboat, Gunboat".

Screw sloop

A type of sloop-of-war, driven by a Propeller#Screw propeller, screw-propulsion system, designed with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns and used for combat (for example, the USS Hartford (1858), U.S.S. Hartford).

Screw steamer

using a steam engine to power a Propeller#Screw propeller, screw-propulsion system. May be designed with multiple screws, to create a twin-screw steamer and up.

Screw tugboat

A tugboat that utilizes a screw-propulsion system. See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Tugboat, Tugboat".

Seaplane tender

Vessel that supports Seaplane, seaplanes, which are aircraft designed to land and take off from water. May also be referred to as a "seaplane carrier", if the tender had repair facilities (which later became the massive Aircraft carrier, aircraft carriers).

Shallow-draft gunboat

See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Light-draft gunboat, Light-draft gunboat".

Ship of the line

A large warship with

ging and at least two gundecks. Ship was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle.

Ship's tender

A small vessel, or alternatively a large vessel operating without the small vessel, that tends to the needs of other ships, providing supplies and transporting personnel. Also simply referred to as a "tender".

Sidewheel steamer

A type of paddle steamer that is characterized by paddles on the sides of the vessel. The paddles, driven by a steam engine, may be the main source of power, or assisting a sailing rig. Can sometimes move the paddles at different speeds and in opposite directions, increasing maneuverability.

Sixth-rate

A smaller sailing warship from the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom holding under 28 guns. A more specific sixth-rate, a post ship, was to be commanded by a Post-captain, post captain, while others were commanded by officers of different pedigree. The USS Cyane (1815), U.S.S. Cyane, captured during the War of 1812, was taken as a prize ship and incorporated into United States Naval Service as a Banterer-class post ship, Banterer-class, after HMS Banterer (1807), HMS Banterer.

Sloop

A sailboat with a single mast, in a

configuration. Easy to maneuver, these ships typically have only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail behind the mast.

Sloop-of-war

A type of warship, similar to a

, with a single gun deck that carried ten to eighteen guns that excelled at close combat.

Spy ship

A vessel, usually equipped with special surveillance equipment, used on covert duty to observe and assess enemies from the sea.

Station ship

A vessel assigned to a particular station or geographic region. Duties may include patrolling, troop movement, refueling, repair, etc. intended for upkeep of the station or region.

Steamer

See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Steamship, Steamship"

Steamship

Any vessel that uses steam to power an engine, which in turn operates propellers or paddlewheels. Also commonly referred to as a "steamer".

Steam cutter

A Cutter (boat), cutter powered by steam propulsion. See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Cutter, Cutter".

Steam frigate

A steam-powered warship, possibly equipped with a screw propeller that was not designed to stand in the line of battle, but serve accessory roles like flagship duties. May also be referred to as a more specific "screw frigate".

Steam gunboat

Steam sloop

A sloop powered by steam propulsion. See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Sloop, Sloop" for configuration or "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Steam frigate, Steam frigate" for near-exact ship.

Steam tanker

A Tanker (ship), tanker powered by steam propulsion. See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Tanker, Tanker".

Steam tugboat

that is powered by steam propulsion. See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Tugboat, Tugboat".

Steam yacht

A yacht powered by steam propulsion. See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Armed yacht, Armed yacht."

Sternwheel steamer

See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Sternwheeler, Sternwheeler".

Sternwheeler

A type of paddle steamer that is propelled by a paddle wheel on the stern of the boat (as opposed to a Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Sidewheel steamer, sidewheel steamer). May also be referred to as a sternwheel steamer.

Stone ship

Any ship that was a member of the Stone Fleet, stone fleet during the American Civil War. The old sunken ships were loaded with stone, and used by the Union Navy to obstruct blockade runners.

Storeship

See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Combat stores ship, Combat stores ship".

Submarine tender

A vessel that provides logistic support and maintenance for deployed submarines.

Super-dreadnought

A dreadnought battleship that is armed with larger guns (13.5").

Supply ship

Any ship that takes stores, ammunition, etc. from Combat stores ship, storeships or ports and distributes the materials among a fleet. Can be more specifically classified as an

, replenishment oiler, etc.

Survey vessel

A ship specifically designed for hydrographic survey and mapping, with specialized tools to measure location and data. Typically conducted by federal services like National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA.

T

Tanker (ship), Tanker

A ship designed to store and transfer liquefied or gaseous goods.

Tender

See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Ship's tender, Ship's tender".

wiktionary:tinclad, Tinclad

Converted steamer riverboats with very light armor plating, intended to be quick and have the shallowest draft possible. Protected sailors and ships from riverside snipers. Flagship of the tinclads is considered the USS Rattler (1862), U.S.S. Rattler.

Timberclad warship

A type of river

, similar to an Ironclad warship, ironclad, but had timber armor instead. Used to transport troops and supplies on the Mississippi River during the Civil War.

Topsail schooner

A type of

with two masts. The foremast has

ging on the topsails.

Torpedo boat

A small and fast vessel designed to carry torpedoes, to harass enemy supply lines and sneakily attack advance ships.

Torpedo boat tender

A type of

specifically designed to maintain, repair, and supply deployed torpedo boats. May be equipped with a crane to handle the torpedo boat.

Training ship

that carries at least one naval officer and a crew of naval apprentices or officers-in-training while going on training cruises.

Troop transport

See "

Troopship

A specific type of transport ship that primarily transports military personnel and equipment. May be further specified to its specific intended purpose, like an "attack transport".

Tugboat

A vessel that moves other ships in mooring and berthing. A tug assists by pushing or pulling ships that cannot move themselves, or are in too difficult a situation to do so alone without an escort. If equipped with steam propulsion, may be referred to specifically as a "steam tug", or any tugboat may be referred to simply as a "tug".

Twin-screw steamer

A screw steamship with two screw propulsion systems. See "Glossary of watercraft types in service of the United States#Screw steamer, Screw steamer".

U

Unprotected cruiser

A type of

in use during the pre-dreadnought era (about 1880 to 1905) that lacked the same level of armor plating as protected cruisers, but were also lighter and cheaper to produce.

W

Warship

Any vessel designed to engage in naval warfare, meaning the ship has characteristics to withstand damage, carry sailors and guns, and be faster and more maneuverable than expected of merchant ships.

Barge, Water barge

A large, flat-bottomed vessel used to transport different types of cargo in waterways with a shallow draught, like interior rivers.

Whaler

Any vessel that was designed or adapted for whaling (from hunting to processing the carcass), ranging in size from

s to full ships. May be used in times of war for minesweeping or anti-submarine warfare.

Notes

: 1.{{note, aThe logbooks of the United States ships in question are found across multiple record groups and series in the National Archives and Records Administration catalog of holdings. The vast majority of ships and types can be found in: RG24 "Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, ca. 1801 - 1940" (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/581208).

References

Military terminology of the United States, Watercraft types Glossaries of the military, Watercraft types in service of the United States Wikipedia glossaries using subheadings

A

Ammunition ship An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for naval ships and aircraft. An ammunition ship's cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks bet ...

Armed merchantman An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

Armed stores ship

Armed yacht An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. The word "yacht" ("hunter"; Dutch "jacht"; German "jagd", literally meaning "to hunt") was originally applied to small, fast and agile naval vessels ...

Armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...

Attack transport Attack transport is a United States Navy ship classification for a variant of ocean-going troopship adapted to transporting invasion forces ashore. Unlike standard troopships – often drafted from the merchant fleet – that rely on ...

Auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

Auxiliary floating drydock An auxiliary floating drydock is a type of US Navy floating dry dock. Floating dry docks are able to submerge underwater and to be placed under a ship in need of repair below the water line. Water is then pumped out of the floating dry dock, r ...

Auxiliary ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxil ...

Auxiliary steamer

B

Bark

Barkentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing r ...

Barracks ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for sai ...

Barrier Boat The United States Navy's 19BB (Barrier Boat) was built by Chuck's Boat and Drive of Longview, Washington in 2002 to deploy and maintain port security booms surrounding Navy ships and installations in port. The first boat of the 13-boat order was ...

Battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main 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 1880s to describe a type of ...

Blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...

Bomb brig

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

Brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...

Broadside ironclad An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...

Buoy tender

C

Canal boat

Cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

Casemate ironclad The casemate ironclad was a type of iron or iron-armored gunboat briefly used in the American Civil War by both the Confederate States Navy and the Union Navy. Unlike a monitor-type ironclad which carried its armament encased in a separate a ...

Clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

Coal barge

Collier

Combat stores ship Combat stores ships, or storeships, were originally a designation given to ships in the Age of Sail and immediately afterward that navies used to stow supplies and other goods for naval purposes. Today, the United States Navy and the Royal Navy ...

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

Cottonclad ram

Cottonclad warship Cottonclads were a classification of steam-powered warships where a wooden ship was protected from enemy fire by bales of cotton lining its sides. Cottonclads were prevalent during the American Civil War, particularly in the Confederate States Navy ...

Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

Cutter

D

Depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

Destroyer tender A destroyer tender or destroyer depot ship is a type of depot ship: an auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of ...

Dispatch boat Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore. Dispatch boats were employed when other means of transmitting a message w ...

Distilling ship A distilling ship is a class of military ships, generally converted tankers, with the capability to convert salt water into fresh water. They were typically stationed at forward bases during conflict where they supported on-the-ground troops and ...

Double-ender

Dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

Drone aircraft catapult control ship

E

Extreme clipper An extreme clipper was a clipper designed to sacrifice cargo capacity for speed. They had a bow lengthened above the water, a drawing out and sharpening of the forward body, and the greatest breadth further aft. In the United States, extreme clipp ...

F

Ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...boat

Flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

Fleet replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The ...

Frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

G

Guard ship A guard ship is a warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbour, as opposed to a coastal patrol boat, which serves its protective role at sea. Royal Navy In the Royal Navy of the eighteenth century, peacetime guard ships were usual ...

Gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

H

Heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...

Heavy frigate

Hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...

I

Icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

Ironclad gunboat

Ironclad warship An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. T ...

K

Ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

L

Light aircraft carrier A light aircraft carrier, or light fleet carrier, is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft only one-h ...

Light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

Light-draft gunboat

Light-draft monitor

Lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. In the United States, these ships originally served as part of the Lighthou ...

M

Merchant raider Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels. History Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...

Minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

Mortar gunboat

Mortar schooner

Motorboat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

N

Naval trawler

Ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
boat