gandy@uunet.UU.NET (John Gandy) (04/24/89)
From: tellab5!tellab5.tellabs.CHI.IL.US!gandy@uunet.UU.NET (John Gandy)
Being an aviation type and, hence, inherently fearful of large beweaponed
things that displace water, I've never learned or deciphered the the
designations the USN gives to our Naval craft. Could someone please post a
listing of these acronyms/designations (i.e, e.g., SSBN = nuclear sub [and
a `boomer'?], FF = frigate, etc.).
Thanks, in advance.
-- John Gandy (new to the net, if you haven't noticed)
P.S. To the mod and all concerned: So far, in my humble opinion, this news
group has an infinite S to N. Great reading.
[mod.note: Most of the credit goes to the authors; I don't have to
reject very many postings, and many of those I do are "duplicates".
Thank you all for making my job easier ! - Bill ]howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz) (04/27/89)
From: howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz) In article <5855@cbnews.ATT.COM>, tellab5!tellab5.tellabs.CHI.IL.US!gandy@uunet.UU.NET (John Gandy) writes: > > > From: tellab5!tellab5.tellabs.CHI.IL.US!gandy@uunet.UU.NET (John Gandy) > Being an aviation type and, hence, inherently fearful of large beweaponed > things that displace water, I've never learned or deciphered the the > designations the USN gives to our Naval craft. Could someone please post a > listing of these acronyms/designations (i.e, e.g., SSBN = nuclear sub [and > a `boomer'?], FF = frigate, etc.). I worked on CNO data bases in the early 70's, and was amazed on how many different ship types are defined. Here's a partial list: [mod.note: With apologies to Howard, I'll add a few notes in brackets - Bill ] BB: Battleship BBG: Battleship with guided missiles; "G" suffix can be added to most OBB: Old Battleship (basically WWII term for WWI ships) CB: Battle cruiser [ I think CB is actually "Large Cruiser", our designation for the Alaskas. Internationally, battlecruisers were designated "CC" ] CA: Heavy cruiser CL: Light cruiser CLAA: Antiaircraft cruiser (WWII gun type) CG: Missile cruiser CGN: Nuclear-powered missile cruiser (again, "N" suffix is general) CV: Aircraft carrier (generic or medium) CVA: Attack carrier (i.e., BIG mother) CVH: Helicopter carrier CVE: Escort carrier CVL: Light carrier [let's not forget the "N" suffix for Nuclear; CVN, CVAN ] DD: Destroyer DDR: Destroyer with extra radar (picket type) DL: Destroyer leader DE: Destroyer escort FF: Fast frigate PG: Patrol gunboat PGH: Hydrofoil patrol gunboat SS: Submarine SSBN: Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine SSGN: Nuclear-powered sub with other than ballistic missiles AGSS: Auxiliary submarine (includes troop carriers) AO: Oiler AOG: Gasoline oiler AK: Supply ship APA: Assault personnel transport AKA: Assault transport ARS/ASR: One is a submarine rescue ship; one is a support ship; I never can remember :-) AGTR: Auxiliary Technical Reconnaissance (euphemism for electronic intelligence collection platform) LPH: Landing Platform Helicopter (mini-carrier) LSD: No, not that. Landing Ship Dock. LST: Landing Ship Tank LCI: Landing Craft Infantry LSMR: Rocket-firing landing ship medium [LCU: Landing Craft, Utility LCVP: Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel LVT: Landing Vehicle, Tracked ] -- howard@cos.com OR {uunet, decuac, sun!sundc, hadron, hqda-ai}!cos!howard (703) 883-2812 [W] (703) 998-5017 [H] DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Corporation for Open Systems, its members, or any standards body.
bsmart@uunet.UU.NET (Bob Smart) (04/28/89)
From: vrdxhq!vrdxhq.verdix.com!bsmart@uunet.UU.NET (Bob Smart) In article <5982@cbnews.ATT.COM>, howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz) writes: > > BBG: Battleship with guided missiles; "G" suffix can be added to > most This was only a suggested ddesignation when the uncompleted Kentucky (Iowa class) was being considered as a missle launcher during the 50's I don't believe it was ever actually used > OBB: Old Battleship (basically WWII term for WWI ships) This is one I can find no acceptance of Breyer doesnt mention it ( he does mention the BBG project and I cannot find any other references to it. I would imagine that if it was used it would be BBO. > CB: Battle cruiser > [ I think CB is actually "Large Cruiser", our designation for the Alaskas. > Internationally, battlecruisers were designated "CC" ] You are right here bill and it is an important difference. The US Navy had used CC for the Lexington class Battle cruisers in the teens and 20s. This represented the thought that they were Capital ships. Their design represented Capital ship thinking. The Alaska class was simply a larger version of the current Heavy cruiser. All of their design follows cruiser design not Capital ship design. I think this was one reason that they were cancelled so fast, someone finally realised that they were neither fish nor fowl. > CA: Heavy cruiser > CL: Light cruiser > CLAA: Antiaircraft cruiser (WWII gun type) > CG: Missile cruiser > CGN: Nuclear-powered missile cruiser (again, "N" suffix is general) > > CV: Aircraft carrier (generic or medium) > CVA: Attack carrier (i.e., BIG mother) > There has been a change here in the last 10 years. Thew navy has begun redesignating the CVAs (Forrestal and newer) as CV representing the general purpose nature of carriers as they add anti-sub assets to the air group. the old CVA/CVS split was primarily used to designate Essex class carriers that had been upgraded tyo support the most modern equipment (CVA) versis the un or less modified CVS that had Anti-sub groups on board. The USS Intrepid was a CVS but during Vietnam was deployed ( and I believe designated) a 'limited CVA' She carried a large contigent of A-4s including some A-4c's equiped for 'limited fighter duties'. Please don't get the wrong idea I am glad someone took the time to post the whole list. I didn't have time to dig out the books and do a complete list. Also one more recent change the A* series used to support the Amphib forces (APA, AKA, etc) have been redesignated L* series to show that they are not auxilery(sp) but amphibious forces ships. Bob Smart (bsmart@verdix.com)
jwm@stdc.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) (04/28/89)
From: jwm@stdc.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) }LPH: Landing Platform Helicopter (mini-carrier) }LSD: No, not that. Landing Ship Dock. }LST: Landing Ship Tank }LCI: Landing Craft Infantry }LSMR: Rocket-firing landing ship medium }[LCU: Landing Craft, Utility }LCVP: Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel }LVT: Landing Vehicle, Tracked ] Add: LHA Amphibious Assault ship (I was on commissioning crew for LHA-2) LHD Amphibious Assault, (dock)? A modded LHA. (just out) -- The above was test data, and not the responsibility of any organization.
budden@manta.nosc.mil (Rex A. Buddenberg) (05/01/89)
From: budden@manta.nosc.mil (Rex A. Buddenberg) A few more. Icebreakers are designated AGB if they are in the Navy. Since they are all in the Coast Guard (since the mid 60s), we call them WAGBs -- aka White Arctic Garbage Barges...until we painted them red in the early 70s. Large cutters are currently designated WHEC -- High endurance cutter. Since various classes of large, now retired, cutters came from diverse sources, we used to have AVP's -- seaplane tenders -- which we called WAVPs for several years. Campbell class cutters were WPG (patrol gunboats) for many years before becoming WHECs. WMECs are medium endurance cutters; we currently have two classes in service, 210 and 270 feet LOA. WPBs are, intuitively, patrol boats. WLBs and WLMs are buoy tenders -- ocean and coastal respectively. Lessee...WSES -- one squadron of surface effect ships. And the cadet trivia question: WSUB. Gotcha! It's a radio station in Groton Ct. Rex Buddenberg -------
howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz) (05/02/89)
From: howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz) In article <6026@cbnews.ATT.COM>, vrdxhq!vrdxhq.verdix.com!bsmart@uunet.UU.NET (Bob Smart) writes: > > > From: vrdxhq!vrdxhq.verdix.com!bsmart@uunet.UU.NET (Bob Smart) > > In article <5982@cbnews.ATT.COM>, howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz) writes: > > > OBB: Old Battleship (basically WWII term for WWI ships) > > This is one I can find no acceptance of Breyer doesnt mention it ( he does > mention the BBG project and I cannot find any other references to it. I would > imagine that if it was used it would be BBO. My source for this was a loose-leaf USN ship recognition manual from WWII; my mother (then running the airframe maintenance course) "liberated" it from the school library after the war. OBB was used for elderly German battleships (I remember the Schleswig-Holstein; there were a few others), to distinguish them from modern ones such as Tirpitz. As far as I know, OBB's saw no action. [mod.note: Schliesen served WWII as a training ship; Schleswig-Holstein did likewise, but had the distinction of firing the first shots of WWII as it shelled Danzig, 1 Sept, 1939. - Bill ] -- howard@cos.com OR {uunet, decuac, sun!sundc, hadron, hqda-ai}!cos!howard (703) 883-2812 [W] (703) 998-5017 [H] DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Corporation for Open Systems, its members, or any standards body.