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What do the USS navy ships letters and numbers stand for?

In: US Navy [Edit categories]

Answer:

I assume you are refering to "Hull Numbers" such as CV-10. These uniquely identify a vessel particularly when names are re-used.The USS Lexington was CV-2 and CV-16, the USS Yorktown was CV-5 and CV-10 as well as numerous other vessels.

BB - Battleships
CV - Aircraft carriers
CA - Heavy cruisers
CL - Light Cruisers
CG - Cruiser - Guided Missile
DD - Destroyers
DE - Destroyer Escorts
FF - Frigates
SS - Submarines are SS

An N at the end of the designation indicate Nuclear powers (CVN or CGN or SSN)

Others that have been used:

PGM - Patrol Gunboat Missile
PT - Motor Torpedo Boats
PG - Patrol Gunboats
DDG-FFG - Guided missile destroyer or Frigate

There is a whole class of ships that begin with L that are Landing craft used for amphibious attacks:

LST - Landing Ship Tank
LSD - Landing Ship Dock
LLH - Light Helicopter
LCC - Communications
ATA - Attack Transport

And there is the Auxiliary Class that provides Supplies to the fleet:

AO - Auxiliary Oiler

The USS at the front of the name is for United States Ship. There are also USNS which is United States Naval Supply. They are manned by civilian personnel and are merchant marine vessels.

Contributor:

Aggie80

First answer by Bobbartlett37. Last edit by Aggie80. Contributor trust: 4980 [recommend contributor ]. Question popularity: 3 [recommend question].

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