Editing Encyclopedia:Naming conventions (ships) (section)

==Naming articles about civilian ships==
{{for|a full list of ship prefixes|Ship prefix}}

Civilian ship articles should follow standard [[Wikipedia:Article titles|Wikipedia naming conventions]]. These rules apply to named boats and yachts as well as to ships.

===Optional prefix===
{{shortcut|WP:PREFIXSHIP|WP:SHIPPREFIX}}

A typical civilian ship article name has the following form: <optional prefix> <''italicized name''> <(optional disambiguation)><ref name="DAB"/>

An article about a ship not known to have a prefix should use only the ship's name, if that name is unambiguous:
* ''{{xt|[[Niña]]}}'' 

Since the optional prefix is, in fact, ''optional'', it may be omitted for ships with unambiguous names even when common prefixes (e.g. MS or MV) are sometimes used for them in other sources:
* ''{{xt|[[Celebrity Equinox]]}}'' instead of {{!xt|[[MV Celebrity Equinox|MV ''Celebrity Equinox'']]}}

However, if a ship is best known in combination with a [[ship prefix]], include the prefix in the article name. Use of the prefix can also provide [[Help:Disambiguation|disambiguation]]:
* {{xt|{{SS|John W. Brown}}}} compared to {{xt|[[John W. Brown]]}}
* {{xt|[[PS Waverley|PS ''Waverley'']]}} compared to {{xt|[[Waverley]]}}

Do not use punctuation within the ship prefix:
* {{xt|MV ''Dunedin Star''}} not {{!xt|M/V ''Dunedin Star''}}
* {{xt|SS ''Christopher Columbus''}} not {{!xt|S.S. ''Christopher Columbus''}}

If a ship has had more than one prefix during its lifetime, choose the best-known for the article and create a [[Help:Redirect|redirect]] from the other prefixed names:
* {{xt|{{RMS|Olympic}}}} should have a redirect from {{xt|{{SS|Olympic}}}}

===Italicized name===
Ship names are always italicized:
* {{xt|''Niña''}}, not {{!xt|Niña}}

===Optional disambiguation===
When the name is ambiguous, append disambiguation information in parentheses.

* {{xt|[[Santa María (ship)|''Santa María'' (ship)]]}} rather than {{xt|''[[Santa María]]''}} 

The date of launching should be used if there are several ships with the same name. Sometimes vessels will share a launch date as well as a name. In that case adding the place of launch is necessary:

*{{ship||Mary|1806 ship}}	
*{{ship||Mary|1811 Bideford ship}}
*{{ship||Mary|1811 Ipswich ship}}