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Ship prefix

A ship prefix are letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of a civilian ship or man'o'war (naval ship).

Ship prefixes in the United States Navy have consistently been "United States Type," where Type was "Ship," "Sloop," "Bark," and so on. (The types other than "Ship" have fallen out of use.) Hull classification symbols -- "BB" for battleships and so on -- were haphazard, but in 1907 were standardized by executive order of President Theodore Roosevelt.

Table of Ship Prefixes

Country	Service	Prefix	Meaning
generic	all	MV	Motor Vessel
generic	all	PS	Paddle Steamer
generic	all	SS	Steam Ship
generic	all	SV	Sailing Vessel
Argentina	Argentine Navy	ARA	Armada de la Republica Argentina
Australia	Royal Australian Navy	HMAS	His/Her Majesty's Australian Ship
Bahamas	??[?]	HMBS	His/Her Majesty's Bahamian Ship
Bangladesh	??	BNS	Bangladesh Naval Ship
Belgium	??	BNS	Belgium Naval Ship
Canada	Canadian Forces Maritime Command	HMCS	His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship
Denmark	Royal Danish Navy	HDMS (Danish: KDM)	His/Her Danish Majesty's Ship (Danish: Kongelige Danske Marine)
France	French Navy	FS	French Ship (NATO designation)
German Empire	Kaiserliche Marine	SM U-##	Seiner Majestät Unterseeboot
German Empire	Kaiserliche Marine	SMS	Seiner Majestät Schiff
Germany	Bundesmarine	FGS	Federal German Ship (NATO designation)
Great Britain	Ships carrying mail	RMS	Royal Mail[?] Ship
Great Britain	Royal Fleet Auxiliary	RFA	Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Great Britain	Royal Navy	HMS	His/Her Majesty's Ship
Greece	Hellenic Navy	HS	Hellenic Ship (NATO designation)
India	Indian Navy (pre-Republic)	HMINS	His/Her Majesty's Indian Naval Ship
India	Indian Navy	INS	Indian Naval Ship
Israel	Israeli Navy	INS	Israeli Naval Ship
Malaysia	Royal Malaysian Navy	KD	Kapal Diraga - His Majesty's Ship
Netherlands	Royal Netherlands Navy	HNLMS (Dutch: Hr.Ms. or Z.Ms.)	His/Her Majesty's Netherlands Ship (Dutch: Hare Majesteit's or Zijne Majesteit's)
New Zealand	Royal New Zealand Navy	HMNZS	His/Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship
Norway	Royal Norwegian Navy	KNM	Kongelige Norske Marine
Norway	Norwegian Coast Guard	KV	Kystvakt
Pakistan	Pakistani Navy	PNS	Pakistani Naval Ship
Peru	Peruvian Navy	BAP	Buque Armada Peruana
Philippines	Philippine Navy	BRP	Barka ng Republika ng Pilipinas
Saudi Arabia	Saudi Navy	HMS	His Majesty's Ship -- the same as the Royal Navy
Singapore	Singapore Navy	RSS	Royal Singapore Ship
South Africa	South African Navy	SAS	South African Ship
United States	U.S. Navy	USS	United States Ship
United States	U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command	USNS	United States Naval Ship
United States	U.S. Coast Guard	USCGC	United States Coast Guard Cutter
Uruguay	??	ROU	Republica del Oriental Uruguay

Occasionally writers will prefix a ship's name with an abbreviation of its nationality in their own language, such as "IJN" for Teikoku Nihon Kaigun, but that usage is deprecated.

In the Royal Netherlands Navy, "HNLMS" is the prefix in English, but in Dutch translates to "Hr.Ms." or "Z.Ms.". Thus "Hr.Ms." should never be used in an English document; nevertheless it is often seen on the World Wide Web.

See also the WikiProject Ships.

External Link

Warship National Prefixes (http://www.seawaves.com/prefixes.htm)

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

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