What Does USS Stand For On A Navy Ship?

The names, hull numbers, and abbreviations that come before a warship's name have been going on for centuries, making the tradition of naming a ship, in a word — complicated. For instance, ships in the British Royal Navy have been adorned with HMS since 1790, which stands for "Her Majesty's Ship" or "His Majesty's Ship," depending on the reigning monarch at the time the ship is commissioned. The United States uses USS, which stands for "United States Ship."

Don't forget the "SS" nomenclature either — we know your mind probably just jumped to the SS Minnow from "Gilligan's Island," a ship that ironically wasn't powered by steam. Most but not all of the world's navies use abbreviations to identify the nation from which their ships hail. Argentina uses ARA (Armada de la República Argentina), while New Zealand uses HMNZS, Canadian ships use HMCS, and both India and Israel use INS. 

A commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy is one placed into active service via a ceremony that has been a tradition since 1775. Vessels operated by civilians as part of the Military Sealift Command (or other commands) are considered "active status, in service." Lacking a commission, they're referred to as a "United States Naval Ship" (USNS). Other Navy vessels that fall into this "in service but not commissioned" status are identified by their name (if they have one) and hull number and don't earn the USS prefix. 

The term "United States Ship" (USS) was used as early as the 1790s, around the same time the British Royal Navy began using HMS on their ships. By the late 1800s, the USS abbreviation was used more frequently but not in a formalized manner or in large numbers. 

That changed in 1907 when President Theodore Roosevelt issued Executive Order 549 that established its standardization. The order states "In order that there shall be uniformity in the matter of designating naval vessels, it is hereby directed that the official designation of vessels of war, and other vessels of the Navy of the United States, shall be the name of such vessel, preceded by the words, United States Ship, or the letters U.S.S., and by no other words or letters."

The USS designation is used on a variety of warships, including aircraft carriers, destroyers, and cruisers. For example, the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is a state-of-the-art destroyer commissioned in October 2016. The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is a next-generation Ford-class aircraft carrier (the first new class in more than 40 years) that was commissioned in July 2017. The USS Arizona (BB-39) was a battleship commissioned in October 1916 and sunk at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, where it still sits. The USS Constitution first set sail in July 1798 and is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat in the world. Only during a ship's commission does it retain the prefix. Before it gets commissioned and after it has been decommissioned, the ship is only known by its name.