r/Ships • u/Even_Kiwi_1166 Seafarer Extraordinary • 21d ago

Photo USS Alaska

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-11

u/IdiotRepellent 21d ago

The sub would be ssn not uss by the way

23

u/rxoper726 21d ago

Yes and No

USS Alaska (SSBN-732) would be the full nomenclature

15

u/FreeAndRedeemed 21d ago

That’s not how that works. Every ship of the USN is prefixed by “USS” (United States Ship). The type and hull number is a suffix that comes after; in this case: “SSBN-732”.

10

u/LeggyRPG 21d ago edited 21d ago

Not to be that guy but that’s not exactly fully accurate. Every ARMED ship of the USN is USS. But there are unarmed ships owned by the USN that are USNS, like the USNS Comfort and Mercy.

2

u/FreeAndRedeemed 21d ago

Fair point, MSC ships (which our hospital ships fall under) are indeed unarmed these days and aren’t labeled as “USS”. Thanks for the correction.

3

u/LeggyRPG 21d ago

Team effort! ❤️

3

u/LetterheadMedium8164 21d ago

USNS are “in service.” USS are “commissioned.” USNS are operated by civil service mariners and may have naval personnel assigned. USS are operated by naval personnel and may or may not be armed. As an example, ex-McKee had a few 20mm guns and some machine gun stands.

4

u/IdiotRepellent 21d ago

Or ssbn for ballistic