United States Ship (abbreviated as USS or U.S.S.) is a

ship prefix A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/n ...

used to identify a commissioned ship of 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 applies to a ship only while it is in commission. Before commissioning, the vessel may be referred to as a " pre-commissioning unit" (PCU), but is officially referred to by name with no prefix. After decommissioning, it is referred to by name with no prefix, though people commonly refer to those ships with the prefix "ex-", as in ex-''ship name''. In-service but non-commissioned Navy ships go by the prefix USNS, which stands for

United States Naval Ship United States Naval Ship (USNS) is the prefix designation given to non- commissioned ships that are property of the United States Navy (USN). Definition United States Naval Ships are unarmed auxiliary support vessels owned by the U.S. Navy ...

. From the early beginnings of the U.S. Navy there had been no standard method of referring to U.S. Navy ships until 1907 when President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

issued

Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

549 on 8 January stating that all U.S. Navy ships were to be referred to as "The name of such vessel, preceded by the words, United States Ship, or the letters U.S.S., and by no other words or letters". Today's Navy Regulations define the classification and status of naval ships and craft: #The Chief of Naval Operations shall be responsible for ... the assignment of classification for administrative purposes to water-borne craft and the designation of status for each ship and service craft. #Commissioned vessels and craft shall be called "United States Ship" or "U.S.S." #Civilian manned ships, of the

Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US ...

or other commands, designated "active status, in service" shall be called "United States Naval Ship" or "U.S.N.S." #Ships and service craft designated "active status, in service," except those described by paragraph 3 of this article, shall be referred to by name, when assigned, classification, and hull number (e.g., "HIGH POINT PCH-1" or "YOGN-8"). ::— United States Navy Regulations, 1990, Article 0406.

References

United States Navy * Ship prefixes {{navy-stub

See also

References