USN ship desigignatios

Probably because there was no internal variation in that type of ship - a battleship is a battleship.  Just like the DD - until they found a need for the Destroyer Escort (DE).

There was a discussion on this subject on the Modelwarships.com website recently, someone posted a link to this page which more or less explains things.

There is actually at least one variant of the Battleship designation, BM (Monitor) which was applied to the large coast defence monitors like the Amphitrite and Puritan class built in the late 19th century (and more or less obsolescent even when built). There were also proposed designations (such as BBG) for post-war conversions of the Iowa class, never actually used.
Another interesting fact is that the carrier designation (CV) is actually a variant of the cruiser designation (I think it means "Cruiser, Aircraft") - presumably when carriers were first introduced to the USN they weren't considered important enough to be a seperate ship class.

interesting. the cruiser designation may also have come from the fact that the Lex and Saratoga were built on what were originally meant to be cruiser hulls.

Well, ship designators have been frought with all sorts of issues for ever and ever.  First off, somebody decided it had to be at least two letters, which has lead to odd doublings ever since.  But, most of the doublings make a slight sense--BB, DD, SS, etc.

CV comes from (aircraft) "carrier" "heaVier-than-air".  Recall that the USN had experimented with lighter-than-air carriers in Macon and Akron.  That "V" still occurs in the squadron designations to this day.

Cruisers were going to be CA, CB, CC; but the original size split was only heavy and light.  That newfangled auxillary for toting aircraft around was catching on, and it used a "C" as well.  Somehow, the split was rendered to be CA & CL (to then catch a monkeywrench with the CLAAs).

Where it all goes "thick" (to borrow the expression from my brit friends) is in the Auxillaries.  Nothing like "leaving off" the A part to relly muddy the issue <g>.

Then, the poor amphibs . . . "well Deck" gets turned into "Dock" (not helped with US Army designations only vaguely similar, if widely published).

Almost simpler to ask about a specific designation than all of them <g>.

Then you have TB - Torpedo Boat from the turn of the Twentieth Century.   To counteract these craft -- you had TBD - Torpedo Boat Destroyers.   Their designations got shortened to just Destroyer -- and the type designator was shortened to DD,  why two letters as opposed to one.   It is a bureaucracy afterall.

EdGrune wrote:

and the type designator was shortened to DD,  why two letters as opposed to one.   It is a bureaucracy afterall.

LoL!  Isn't it?

Now, long ago and far away in Naval Science 101 or the like, I remember being taught that the new steel Navy was going to follow an "ABCD" 'class' designation hearkening back to "Rates" in a way.  So, the biggest battle wagons would have been A's; "ordinary" battleships would be B's; Cruisers, C's; and Destroyers, D's.  The world, not being a simple place, and where it is, long-standing bureaucracies certainly must abhor that 'vacuum' . . .

This is how Maine, Texas, NJ & the like were B-nn, and Olympia was C-2 or some such before being changed to the more 'modern' BB, CA, & such.

Note that I'm staying well away from anything with a leading "Y" <g> . . .

http://www.valoratsea.com/shipdes.htm

The ship I served on was the USS Holland (AS-32). This is listed as an auxiliary ship from the list of designations for US ships. Among the subs there are SS, SSBN, SSN, SSGN and others. From there you would have to know their classification, If I remember correctly.

If you are a vet I thank you for your service to ensure my freedoms  

theyorkieterror wrote:

The ship I served on was the USS Holland (AS-32). This is listed as an auxiliary ship from the list of designations for US ships. Among the subs there are SS, SSBN, SSN, SSGN and others. From there you would have to know their classification, If I remember correctly.

AS is a Submarine Tender.  Tenders take a letter from the ship class they support.  A destroyer tender is an AD.  Now, before the spiffy Trident support bases were built in VA & WA, we has some sub tneders for the boomers.  Illogically, these were not ASB's.

SS is a diesel sub.  SSG is a Guided missile-equipped diesel sub.  SSR is a radar picket diesel sub.  Adding an "N" refers to nuke boats, like SSN.  Adding a "B" refers to balistic missile-equipped boats, giving us SSBN.  There were some plans for SSGN and even SSRN, but those never really went any where.  The Soviets built some SSGNs--three or four, if memory serves.

Yard craft will send me off for a copy of the DictNav.  A self-propelled Barracks Repair barge/ship winds up being like a YBPR or some such.

 Edit:  Was brosing the Floating Drydock site, and they have the Holland as a kit--the world is a circular sort of place.

CapnMac82 wrote:

There were some plans for SSGN and even SSRN, but those never really went any where.

The first four of the Ohio-class boomers are slated for conversion to SSGN.  At least one has left the conversion yard.  This mod swapped-out the Trident missile capability with a drop-in cruise-missile launcher pod.  Each pod contains [6 or 7 ?] Tomahawk missiles.  Several of the tubes are also reserved for SpecOps functions.  This gives each Ohio SSGN the capability for 100+ Tomahawks

EdGrune wrote:

The first four of the Ohio-class boomers are slated for conversion to SSGN.

I'm glad you reminded me of that.  Saw the various notices ages ago and then clean forgot them.

Made me wonder at the time is they had thought about a reverse "George Washinton," pulling the entire missile section, and putting in a "plug" more specific to TLAM or which ever mix of "Tommies" was to be installed.  It would seem like bringing the OA length down would make for a bit more manoverability, or a bit more quiet, or both. 

Hard to imagine needing a century of Tommies afloat; harder still to imagine what that reload costs, per Ohio.

But still better than the fate of the original Skipjack, Salt/START-ed, next to Texas & Long Beach, hulls ripped open to show gutted reactor compartments to sattelites overhead.  A sad sight.

Any more detail on SS and SSN? ie:

"Ship Submarine" or "ShipSubmersible" (or Submersible Ship)???

N = obviously adding Nuclear 

It's a puzzler!

 

 

The Ohio and Florida have just been converted to SSGN with seven missiles per tube for a total of 22 tubes each I believe.  The remaining two tubes are reserved for use by SEALs. The Georgia and Michigan should be finished very soon. Here is a link:

http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/trident_conversion.htm

rokket wrote:

Any more detail on SS and SSN? ie: "Ship Submarine" or "ShipSubmersible" (or Submersible Ship)???

Near as I can tell, "SS" is just "Submersible" doubled, in the same vein as BB, DD, FF, etc.  The vessles were called "boats" uniformly, until about LA & Ohio classes came out, and naming for cities and states made "ship" a tad more "weighty."

"FF" reminds me.  USN had a "fling" with both senses of "frigate" for a while.  There was a percieved need for a vessel that was smaller than a cruiser, but bigger than a DD.  The RN called that size a "frigate," but "not invented here" seemed to be why USN called their vessels "leaders."  That gave us the DLG, and the exactly one DLGN.  Was some talk of "cruiser leaders," too, but the existing CLs made that "iffy."  When the call went out for escorts ships smaller than DDs, but "good enough" for convoy duty, USN added the FF, universally calling them "Fast Frigates."  That, despite the fact that DE would have been just as simple to use--just not "hip" enough.

Great plan really.  Except the need for ships was so high, the single-shaft FFs kept being used like they were DDs.  This was very tough on the "pure" single shaft turbine ships.  What clown thought that one up should have been deployed in a ship with a plant that could not be disconnected from its screw (especially before they thought to add the overgrown, drop-down electric "outboard" emergency propulsion)..   

subfixer wrote:

The Ohio and Florida have just been converted to SSGN with seven missiles per tube for a total of 22 tubes each I believe.

Ok, I'm having a hard time not imagining (stupid pink hefelants <g>) what it would be like to be daudling along in trawler when a boomer ripple-fired all those tommies . . .

Something about seeing all the pop-up cans and the dropped booster sections afterwards raining across an otherwise undisturbed bit of ocean . . .

Hmm, there's a dio in there, isn't there?  ECM head, an attack scope, flurry of missile bubble trails and splashes, almost woulf not need any kits at all (where'd be the fun in that <G>?) . . .

I, for one, would be first in the line for tickets to witness that event!