Editing Encyclopedia:Naming conventions (ships) (section)

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

Military ship articles should follow standard [[Wikipedia:Article titles|Wikipedia naming conventions]]. These rules apply to both named and unnamed vessels.

A typical military ship article name has the following form: <prefix> <''italicized name''> <(hull or pennant number or disambiguation)><ref name="DAB">If there is only one ship of the name, it is wrong to disambiguate, per [[WP:PRECISE]].</ref>

Many military ships and boats were not named and are known only by their hull or pennant number (see §[[#Ships with hull number only|Ships with hull number only]]).

Some navies don't use standard ship prefixes (see §[[#Ships from navies without ship prefixes|Ships from navies without ship prefixes]]).

===Prefix===
For ships of navies that have standard [[ship prefix]]es, use the prefix in the article name:
* {{xt|{{USS|Monitor}}}}
* {{xt|{{HMS|Queen Mary}}}}
* {{xt|{{SMS|Seydlitz}}}}

Do not use punctuation within the ship prefix:
* {{xt|USS ''Monitor''}}, not {{!xt|U.S.S. ''Monitor''}}

Do not use the hull classification symbol as a prefix:
* {{xt|USS ''Nimitz''}}, not {{!xt|CVN ''Nimitz''}}

Do not use prefixes that predate their use, even though some authors sometimes "backdate" prefixes in this way. In particular, do not use the HMS prefix for English ships from before 1660. The term "His Majesty's Ship" was introduced around 1660 and was routinely abbreviated HMS from about 1780 onwards:
* {{xt|''Henry Grace à Dieu''}}, not {{!xt|HMS ''Henry Grace à Dieu''}}.

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

===Hull or pennant number or disambiguation===
{{nobold |See §[[#Disambiguating ships with the same name|Disambiguating ships with the same name]].}}
For an article about a modern-day ship, include the ship's hull number (US Navy [[hull classification symbol]]) or [[pennant number]]s (Royal Navy, and many European and Commonwealth navies), if it is available, sufficiently unique, and well known:<ref name="DAB"/>
* {{xt|{{USCGC|Alert|WMEC-127}}}} and {{xt|{{USCGC|Alert|WMEC-630}}}} (hull number disambiguation)
* {{xt|{{HMS|Illustrious|R87}}}} and {{xt|{{HMS|Illustrious|R06}}}} (pennant number disambiguation)
* {{xt|{{HMS|Royal Scotsman}}}} (only one ship of the name – requires no disambiguation)

For a ship that does not have a hull and pennant number, and especially when more than one ship had the name, disambiguate the article name with the ship's launch year.
* {{xt|{{HMS|Victorious|1785}}}} and {{xt|{{HMS|Victorious|1895}}}} (launch year disambiguation)

In instances where a ship was captured or otherwise acquired by a navy and the article is placed at that title, use the date of capture or entry to the navy, rather than the date of launch, so the name and prefix are in agreement with the date disambiguation.
* {{xt|{{HMS|Canopus|1798}}}} rather than {{xt|{{HMS|Canopus|1797}}}}

On Wikipedia, [[United States Navy|US Navy]] and [[United States Coast Guard|US Coast Guard]] [[hull number]]s {{em|are [[hyphen]]ated}} (the US Navy itself is not consistent in this respect). Coast Guard hull numbers always start with a "W". [[Pennant number]]s {{em|do not have a hyphen or space}} (this matches the number as it typically  appears on the side of the ship). Not all pennant numbers have an initial letter ("flag superior"), for example {{xt|{{HMS|Ark Royal|91}}}}. In recent decades, the Australian and Canadian navies have moved towards American-style three letter pennant number prefixes. These should be {{em|written with a space}}, for example {{xt|{{HMCS|Vancouver|FFH 331}}}}.

If a ship had several hull numbers in its career, use the best-known for an article title. If none of the several hull numbers is clearly the best-known, use the first. Redirect others to the article, listing all in the article's lead section:
* {{xt|'''USS ''Goldsborough''''' ('''DD-188'''/'''AVP-18'''/'''AVD-5'''/'''APD-32''') was a ''Clemson''-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II.}} (From {{xt|{{USS|Goldsborough|DD-188}}}})
* {{xt|{{USS|Bogue|ACV-9}}}}, {{xt|{{USS|Bogue|AVG-9}}}}, {{xt|{{USS|Bogue|CVE-9}}}}, and {{xt|{{USS|Bogue|CVHP-9}}}} all redirect to {{xt|{{USS|Bogue}}}}.

===Hull number only, alphanumeric names===
Many types of ship, such as American [[PT boat]]s and German [[U-boat]]s, are officially known only by a hull number. In these cases, it can be best to spell out the ship type (e.g. {{xt|[[German submarine U-238|German submarine ''U-238'']]}}), but be sure the ship type name is correct.  In many cases, the designation is not an abbreviation and may not relate directly to a ship's class or even type.  For example, ''{{xt|[[PT-658]]}}'' can be a redirect to the main article {{xt|[[Motor Torpedo Boat PT-658|Motor Torpedo Boat ''PT-658'']]}}, but {{xt|[[U-238]]}} must be disambiguated, because ''U-238'' also refers to [[Uranium 238]].

Articles about vessels with [[alphanumeric]] names should use the prefix followed by the name, such as {{xt|{{HMS|A1}}}}, {{xt|{{HMS|E11}}}}, {{xt|{{HMS|M1}}}}.

===Ships from navies without ship prefixes===

Some navies or nations don't use standard ship prefixes.  Titles for articles about these ships have the form: <nationality> <type> <''italicized name''>

====Nationality====
The ship's country in adjective form; for example:
* {{xt|Brazilian}}
* {{xt|Japanese}} (though later Japanese ships use JS (Japanese Ship) or JDS (Japanese Defense Ship))
* {{xt|Ottoman}} (though later Turkish ships use TCG (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Gemisi))
* {{xt|German}} (though early German ships use [[Seiner Majestät Schiff|SMS]] (Seiner Majestät Schiff))

====Type====
Do not be over-specific about the ship type:
* {{xt|Japanese aircraft carrier ''Shōhō''}}, not {{!xt|Japanese light aircraft carrier ''Shōhō''}}

====Italicized name====
Ship names are always italicized:
* {{xt|[[Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov|Russian aircraft carrier ''Admiral Kuznetsov'']]}}
* {{xt|[[German battleship Bismarck|German battleship ''Bismarck'']]}}

====Invented prefixes====
Do not make up a ship prefix for a navy that did not use one. Thus:
* {{xt|German battleship ''Bismarck''}}, not {{!xt|DKM ''Bismarck''}}
* {{xt|Japanese battleship ''Yamato''}}, not {{!xt|HIJMS ''Yamato''}} or {{!xt|IJN ''Yamato''}}
* {{xt|Italian battleship ''Giulio Cesare''}}, not {{!xt|RM ''Giulio Cesare''}}
* {{xt|Russian aircraft carrier ''Admiral Kuznetsov''}}, not {{!xt|RFS ''Admiral Kuznetsov''}}

Some authors use invented prefixes for consistency with "USS", "HMS" etc. It was not a mistake for these authors to do that in their own works, but at Wikipedia we choose not to do so. To forestall attempts to move articles to the wrong place, you might want to add redirects from popular invented ship prefixes:
* {{xt|[[Japanese battleship Yamato|Japanese battleship ''Yamato'']]}} could have redirects from {{xt|[[IJN Yamato|IJN ''Yamato'']]}} and {{xt|[[HIJMS Yamato|HIJMS ''Yamato'']]}}.