United States Navy ships

The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, meaning 'United States Ship'. Non-commissioned, civilian-manned vessels of the U.S. Navy have names that begin with USNS, standing for 'United States Naval Ship'. A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are that of states, cities, towns, important persons, important locations, famous battles, fish, and ideals. Usually, different types of ships have names originated from different types of sources.

Modern aircraft carriers and submarines use nuclear reactors for power. See United States Naval reactor for information on classification schemes and the history of nuclear powered vessels.

Modern cruisers, destroyers and frigates are called Surface combatants and act mainly as escorts for aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, auxiliaries and civilian craft, but the largest ones have gained a land attack role through the use of cruise missiles and a population defense role through Missile defense.

See List of ships of the United States Navy for a more complete listing of ships past and present.

Aircraft carriers

Due to their ability to put most nations within striking distance of U.S. air power, aircraft carriers are the cornerstones of the United States' forward deployment and deterrence strategy.^[1] Multiple carriers are deployed around the world to provide military presence, respond quickly to crises, and participate in joint exercises with allied forces;^[2] this has led the Navy to refer to their Nimitz-class carriers as "4.5 acres of sovereign and mobile American territory".^[3] Former President Bill Clinton summed up the importance of the aircraft carrier by stating that "when word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident the first question that comes to everyone's lips is: where is the nearest carrier?"^[4] The power and operational flexibility of a carrier lie in the aircraft of its carrier air wing. Made up of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, a carrier air wing is able to perform over 150 strike missions at once, hitting over 700 targets a day.^[5] Carrier air wings also protect friendly forces, conduct electronic warfare, assist in special operations, and carry out search and rescue missions. The carriers themselves, in addition to enabling airborne operations, serve as command platforms for large battle groups or multinational task forces. U.S. Navy aircraft carriers can also host aircraft from other nations' navies; the French Navy's Rafale has operated, during naval exercises, from U.S. Navy flight decks.^[6]

Following below is a list of all carriers (and their homeports) on active duty or under construction as of 10 January 2009 (2009 -01-10)^[update]. For a list of all carriers see List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy and List of escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy.

Enterprise class (Six originally planned, only one ever constructed)

• USS Enterprise (CVN-65) — Norfolk, Virginia

Nimitz class (10 ships)

• USS Nimitz (CVN-68) — Everett, Washington
• USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) — Norfolk, Virginia
• USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) — San Diego, California
• USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) — Norfolk, Virginia
• USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) — Everett, Washington
• USS George Washington (CVN-73) —Yokosuka, Japan
• USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) — Bremerton, Washington
• USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) — Norfolk, Virginia
• USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) — Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California
• USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) — Norfolk, Virginia

Ford Class (One under construction, two more planned)

• USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) — Under Construction, will replace the USS Enterprise
• USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) — Planned, may replace the USS Nimitz
• CVN-80 — Planned, may replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower

Amphibious assault ships

Amphibious assault ships carry Marines and are the platforms for Marine aircraft. They project power as aircraft carriers do, allowing the military to strike targets from a distance. Amphibious assault ships superficially resemble aircraft carriers except without an angled flight deck.

• Wasp class (8 ships)
  • USS Wasp (LHD-1), Norfolk, Virginia
  • USS Essex (LHD-2), Sasebo, Japan
  • USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), Norfolk, Virginia
  • USS Boxer (LHD-4), San Diego, California
  • USS Bataan (LHD-5), Norfolk, Virginia
  • USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), San Diego, California
  • USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), Norfolk, Virginia
  • USS Makin Island (LHD-8), San Diego, California
• Tarawa (2 in service)
  • USS Nassau (LHA-4), Norfolk, Virginia
  • USS Peleliu (LHA-5), San Diego, California

• America class (At least four ships planned)
  • USS America (LHA-6), Under Construction.

Submarines

There are two major types of submarines, ballistic and attack. Ballistic submarines have the single strategic mission of nuclear deterrence by being hidden launching-platforms for nuclear ICBMs. Attack submarines have tactical missions, including controlling naval and shipping activity, serving as cruise missile-launching platforms, and intelligence-gathering.

• Los Angeles class (44 in commission, 1 in reserve) — attack submarines
• Seawolf class (3 in commission) — attack submarines
• Virginia class (8 in commission, 2 under construction, 12 ordered, 8 more planned) — attack submarines
• Ohio class (18 in commission) — 14 ballistic missile submarines, 4 guided missile submarines

Cruisers

These current guided-missile cruisers are very versatile and powerful, with capabilities for air warfare (AAW), surface warfare (SSW), and anti-submarine warfare (ASW).

• Ticonderoga class (22 in commission) — the first ship class with the AEGIS combat system

Destroyers

The destroyer evolved from the need of navies to counter a new ship which made a devastating debut in the Chilean Civil War of 1891 and in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894. This was the swift, small torpedo boat that could dash in close to the larger ships, loose their torpedoes and dash away. The world's navies recognized the need for a counter weapon, and so the torpedo boat destroyer—later just "destroyer"—was born. Modern destroyers have evolved greatly from this initial role; some are arguably the primary surface combatants of their fleets.

• Arleigh Burke class (59 in commission, 3 under construction, long-lead material contracts for 3, at least a total of 70 planned) — first ship class with comprehensive design for stealth technology.
• Zumwalt class (1 under construction, 1 ordered, 1 more planned) — designed as multi-mission ships with a focus on land attack.

Frigates

Frigates (according to the modern classification of U.S. navy warships) are smaller ships than destroyers. They are designed primarily to protect other ships (such as merchant convoys), and perform some Anti-Submarine Warfare duties. They are of more limited scope than destroyers, but are also more cost-efficient. Although there are currently approximately 30 active duty frigates in the United States Navy, they are all of Oliver Hazard Perry class, the Navy's five-year shipbuilding plan does not include plans for any additional frigates. Indeed, the official website of the latest frigate, USS Ingraham (FFG-61) identifies her as "the Last and Finest" [1]. The USS Constitution, one of the first six sail-powered frigates in the U.S. Navy, has remained in commission since 1797, though she was retired from active service in 1881, and has functioned as a museum ship since 1907.

The Navy's future fleet envisions that the missions currently performed by frigates will be split between the destroyers and the Littoral combat ships, which will also take on the roles of the minesweepers and the patrol ships.

Historically significant vessels

The U.S. Navy has operated a number of vessels important to both United States and world naval history:

• USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides", is the only surviving vessel of the original six frigates authorized by Congress in the Naval Act of 1794, which established the United States Navy. It served with distinction in the War of 1812 and is currently docked in Charlestown, Massachusetts, as the oldest commissioned warship afloat.
• USS Monitor and CSS Virginia are together known for participating in the first engagement between two steam-powered ironclads, known as the Battle of Hampton Roads. The Monitor was the first ironclad built by the U.S. Navy and its design introduced the rotating gun turret to naval warfare.
• USS Alligator was the first submarine built by the U.S. Navy. The submarine sank in 1863 while being towed during a storm and never saw combat. Though not technically a U.S. Navy vessel, H.L. Hunley (from the same war and era) was the first successful combat submarine.
• USS Maine (ACR-1) In January 1898, the Maine was sent from Key West, Florida, to Havana, Cuba, to protect U.S. interests during a time of local insurrection and civil disturbances. Three weeks later, on February 15 at 9:40 p.m., an explosion on board the Maine occurred in the Havana Harbor. The explosion was a precipitating cause of the Spanish-American War that began in April 1898.
• USS Arizona (BB-39) was a Pennsylvania-class battleship, best known for her cataclysmic and dramatic sinking, with the loss of 1,177 lives, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the event that brought about U.S. involvement in World War II. The USS Arizona Memorial is constructed over the shattered hull, which still contains the remains of most of the crew. It is commonly—but incorrectly—believed that Arizona remains perpetually in commission, likely because naval vessels entering Pearl Harbor render honors to the remains of the vessel.
• USS Washington (BB-56), the only U.S. battleship to sink an enemy battleship in direct combat, in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942.
• USS Indianapolis (CA-35), a Portland-class cruiser, was sunk on 30 July 1945 by the Imperial Japanese Navy, leading to the worst loss of life at sea in U.S. Navy history. Approximately 300 sailors of the listed crew of 1,196 died in the attack itself, but of the 880 who survived after, only 316 men lived to be rescued. The men survived four days after suffering from a lack of food, dehydration, exposure, and shark attacks.
• USS Enterprise (CV-6), a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier, was the most decorated U.S. warship in World War II, earning 20 of 22 possible battle stars. She was the only ship outside of the British Royal Navy to earn the Admiralty Pennant, the highest award of the British, in the more than 400 years since its creation.
• USS Missouri (BB-63), an Iowa-class battleship, was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II. She was also the last battleship built by the United States. In 1955, she was decommissioned and assigned to the inactive reserve fleet (the "Mothball Fleet"), but reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, and fought in the 1991 Gulf War. Decommissioned in 1995, she was the last actively serving battleship in the world. She was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association in 1998 and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, moored facing the USS Arizona.
• USS Nautilus (SSN-571), a submarine commissioned in 1954, was the world's first nuclear-powered ship. It demonstrated its capabilities by traveling 62,562 miles (100,684 km), more than half of which was submerged, in two years before having to refuel while breaking the record for longest submerged voyage, as well as being the first submarine to transit submerged under the North Pole in 1958.^[7]
• USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was an intelligence gathering ship attacked by Israeli jet fighter planes and motor torpedo boats on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War while in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula.
• USS Skate (SSN-578), a nuclear-powered submarine commissioned in 1957, was the first ship to physically reach the North Pole when she surfaced there in 1958.
• USS Triton (SSRN-586), a nuclear-powered submarine commissioned in 1959, made the first submerged circumnavigation of the world during its shakedown cruise in 1960, as well as being the only non-Soviet submarine to be powered by two nuclear reactors.
• USS George Washington (SSBN-598), commissioned in 1959, was the first ever ballistic missile submarine.
• USS Long Beach (CGN-9) was the first nuclear-powered surface warship in the world when she was commissioned in 1961 and signaled a new era of United States naval weaponry by being the first large ship in the Navy to have guided missiles as its main battery.
• USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier when she was commissioned in 1961.
• USS Pueblo (AGER-2) was boarded and seized by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) on 23 January 1968 and is still under Korean control. The ship remains in commission to this day.
• USS Stark (FFG-31) was struck on May 17, 1987 by two Exocet antiship missiles fired from an Iraqi Mirage F1 fighter during the Iran–Iraq War becoming the victim of the only successful anti-ship missile attack on a U.S. Navy warship.
• USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) is an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate which struck an Iranian mine on 14 April 1988, severely damaging, and nearly sinking her, resulting in ten injured sailors, but no fatalities. The ship suffered flooding, fires, and a broken keel, which normally is fatal to the ship, but damage control efforts saved the ship. The attack resulted in the launching of Operation Praying Mantis. The ship is still in active service.
• USS Vincennes (CG-49) is a Ticonderoga-class AEGIS equipped guided missile cruiser. In 1988, the ship shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 civilian passengers on board, including 38 non-Iranians and 66 children.
• USS Cole (DDG-67) On 12 October 2000, while at anchor in Aden, Yemen, the Cole was attacked by Al-Qaeda suicide bombers, who sailed a small boat near the destroyer and detonated explosive charges. The blast created a hole in the port side of the ship about 40 feet (12 m) in diameter, killing 17 crew members and injuring 39.

See also

• Aircraft carriers
• Amphibious assault ships
• United States ship naming conventions
• List of submarine classes in service
• List of naval ship classes in service
• List of auxiliary ship classes in service

Notes