Editing Encyclopedia:Naming conventions (ships) (section)

===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}}}}.