Commissioned vessels and craft shall be called “United States Ship” or “U.S.S.” 3. Civilian manned ships, of the Military Sealift Command or other commands, designated “active status, in service” shall be called “
Non-commissioned US Navy support vessels receive the special designation “USNS” (United States Navy Ship). Another long standing military prefix is “HMS,” which is short for “Her (or His) Majesty's Ship.” This is the British equivalent to USS and refers to all vessels of the Royal Navy.
The prefix “USS,” meaning “United States Ship,” is used in official documents to identify a commissioned ship of the Navy. It applies to a ship while she is in commission. Before commissioning, or after decommissioning, she is referred to by name, with no prefix.
------U.S.S. means "United States Ship." It's used for Navy ships. "S.S." means "Steamship." It's used for ships with engines run by steam. If a ship has Diesel engines it is designated "M.S." or "M.V." for "Motor Ship" or "Motor Vessel."
Historically, prefixes for civilian vessels often identified the vessel's mode of propulsion, such as "MV" (motor vessel), "SS" (screw steamer; often cited as "steam ship"), or "PS" (paddle steamer).
The RMS TITANIC was designated as a 'Royal Mail Ship,' meaning the Ship had been contracted to carry Royal (British) Mail. TITANIC was also referred to as an SS ship which stands for 'steamship', indicating that the propulsion was steam powered, but 'SS' had less prestige than 'RMS', so it was used less.
Common prefixes are MV (for Motor Vessel), MS (for Motor Ship), MT (Motor Tanker), SY (for Sailing Yacht) or MY (for Motor Yacht), while prefixes from older times were SS (for Steam Ship) and RMS (for Royal Mail Ship) or ever older HMS (for His/Her Majesty's Ship).
HMS stands for His (Her) Majesty's Ship. This designates a commissioned Royal Navy Ship of the British Royal Navy. The Titanic was an “RMS” or Royal Mail Ship. This designated a ship contracted to carry the Royal Mail of the United Kingdom.
motor ship (MS) or motor vessel (MV): A ship propelled by internal-combustion engines. NVOCC: A non-vessel-owning common carrier that buys space aboard a ship to get a lower volume rate.
The Making of Star Trek explains that USS means "United Space Ship" and that "Enterprise is a member of the Starship Class".
Until July 1920, U.S. Navy Battleships did not officially have "BB" series hull numbers. They were, however, referred to by "Battleship Number", with that number corresponding to the "BB" number formally assigned in July 1920, or which would have been assigned if the ship had still been on the Navy list.
The first ship, USS Higbee (DD 806), was the first combat warship named after a female member of the U.S. Navy.
The U.S. Navy's newest warship, USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is the largest and most technologically advanced surface combatant in the world. Zumwalt is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission destroyers designed to strengthen naval power from the sea.
Traditionally, ships are given female names because it has been surmised that in ancient history ships were once dedicated to goddesses. When belief in goddesses waned, ships were named after important mortal women.
High Sea sales (HSS) is a sale carried out by the actual consignee (ie, the consignee shown in the Bill of Lading) to another buyer while the goods are yet on high seas or after their dispatch from the port of loading (POL) and before their arrival at the port of discharge (POD).
Next up, USS. It stands for United States Ship, and you can only use it if your vessel is commissioned by the United States Navy. Any usage outside of that jurisdiction is strictly prohibited. As for privately owned leisure boats, you're not technically required to put a prefix in front of your boat's name.
In the Navy hull classification “SSBN,” the letters “SS” stand for submersible ship, B denotes ballistic missiles, and the N indicates it is nuclear powered.
U.S. Navy aircraft carriers intended to operate with the main fleet were numbered in the "CV" series, which was originated as part of the cruiser ("C") group of designations.
CV -- aircraft carrier. CVA -- attack aircraft carrier. CVAN -- attack aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion). CVB -- large aircraft carrier.
A safety management system (also referred to as an SMS) is a systematic approach to managing safety. By following established policies, practices and procedures you ensure the safety of vessels and the people on board. All domestic commercial vessels must have a safety management system (SMS).
Her Early History
She was to be the first ship built for the Royal Navy to be named after the city of Belfast. Commissioned into the Royal Navy on 5 August 1939, she became HMS – His Majesty's Ship – Belfast.
Today Victory is preserved at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and, as the flagship of the First Sea Lord & Chief of Naval Staff, is the oldest commissioned warship in the world. Laid down in 1759 Victory was a First Rate, the most powerful type of ship of her day with three gun decks mounting 100 guns.
In the world, there are only three active ships that are referred to as Royal Mail Ships or Royal Mail Vessels: RMS Segwun, RMV Scillonian III & RMS Queen Mary.
The reason the titanic is often referred to as 'RMS Titanic' is because the RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship.
The immediate cause of RMS Titanic's demise was a collision with an iceberg that caused the ocean liner to sink on April 14–15, 1912. While the ship could reportedly stay afloat if as many as 4 of its 16 compartments were breached, the impact had affected at least 5 compartments.