Until July 1920, U.S. Navy Battleships did not officially have "BB" series hull numbers. They were, however, referred to by "Battleship Number", with that number corresponding to the "BB" number formally assigned in July 1920, or which would have been assigned if the ship had still been on the Navy list.
BB: Battleship. BBG: Battleship, guided missile or arsenal ship (never used operationally) BM: Monitor (1920–retirement) C: Cruiser (pre-1920 protected cruisers and peace cruisers)
Battleship Arizona (BB-39), named to honor the 48th state, was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 17 October 1916, with Captain John D. McDonald in command. After shakedown training off the Virginia Capes, Newport, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she returned to New York on Christmas Eve for post-shakedown overhaul.
In the United States Navy, these consist of ships commissioned with hull classification symbols CV (aircraft carrier), CVA (attack aircraft carrier), CVB (large aircraft carrier), CVL (light aircraft carrier), CVN (aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion)).
BB = Battleship. CA = Cruiser, Armored. CB = Cruiser, Large. CC = Cruiser, Battle. CL = Cruiser, Light.
"BB55" --What does that mean? "BB" designates "battleship" for a US Navy ship. The number "55" means she was the 55th battleship built. The Battleship North Carolina is "BB55".
From 1940, Arizona and other Pacific Fleet battleships were based out of Pearl Harbor. On December 7th, 1941, she was moored in "Battleship Row" when Japanese carrier aircraft attacked.
The prefix “USS,” meaning “United States Ship,” is used in official documents to identify a commissioned ship of the Navy. It applies to a ship while she is in commission.
BB meant battleship, CC meant battlecruiser (the cancelled Lexington class); CA meant heavy cruiser (e.g. those armed w/8" guns) CL meant light cruiser (e.g. those armed w/6" guns), and DD meant Destroyer.
CVL. Light aircraft carrier (cruiser hull) DD. Destroyer.
USS Texas (Battleship Number 35, later BB-35), 1914-1948. USS Texas, a 27,000-ton New York class battleship built at Newport News, Virginia, was commissioned in March 1914.
Eisenhower (CVN 69) was authorized by Congress in fiscal year 1970. The ship was named for the 34th President of the United States and General of the Army Dwight David Eisenhower (Oct. 14, 1890 - March 28, 1969).
USS Indiana, a 10,288-ton battleship, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and commissioned in November 1895. She spent her entire career in the Atlantic area.
Many World War II-era battleships remain in use today as museum ships.
Why Do Military Ships Tend to be Grey? Grey is the universal colour for combatant and auxiliary surface ships, and it serves a crucial purpose of keeping warships hidden from view. Grey is a neutral color that blends well with the ocean, making it harder for enemy vessels to spot the ship from a distance.
Seven of these ten ships are still in existence. South Dakota, Washington and Indiana were scrapped, but the remainder are now museum ships.
SS often stood for "steamship," as steam what made these vessels operate. It was also a clear indicator that a boat differed from the slower performing means of propulsion, such as sailing and rowing power.
Another tradition is to consider ships as female, referring to them as 'she'. Although it may sound strange referring to an inanimate object as 'she', this tradition relates to the idea of a female figure such as a mother or goddess guiding and protecting a ship and crew.
U.S. Navy aircraft carriers intended to operate with the main fleet were numbered in the "CV" series, which was originated as part of the cruiser ("C") group of designations.
Replacing the battleships
The Navy saw the battleships as prohibitively expensive, and worked to persuade Congress to allow it to remove Iowa and Wisconsin from the Naval Vessel Register by developing extended-range guided munitions and a new ship to fulfill Marine Corps requirements for naval gunfire support (NGFS).
Another long standing military prefix is “HMS,” which is short for “Her (or His) Majesty's Ship.” This is the British equivalent to USS and refers to all vessels of the Royal Navy. Most militaries worldwide use similar designations to refer to their military vessels and distinguish them from civilian shipping.
World War II gave the world's navies a crash course in the next phase of war at sea. The pointy end of the spear became aircraft, guided weapons (missiles and torpedoes) and submarines—not the guns on board a ship—thus largely ending of the utility of the battleship in the open ocean.
The USS Nevada is among the U.S. Navy's most storied battleships, having survived both world wars and blasts from atomic bombs. Read the entire article on the GIZMODO web site.
USS Nevada (BB-36)
Nevada was one of several dozen ships sent to Bikini Atoll to test the effects of nuclear weapons on warships. Nevada, painted bright orange for the tests, survived two nuclear detonations but was damaged and heavily irradiated by the second, underwater explosion.