United States Navy ships

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Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, for "United States Ship". Non-commissioned, civilian-manned vessels of the U.S. Navy have names that begin with USNS, standing for "United States Naval Ship". A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are those of states, cities, towns, important persons, important locations, famous battles, fish, and ideals. Usually, different types of ships have names originated from different types of sources.

Modern aircraft carriers and submarines use nuclear reactors for power. See United States naval reactors for information on classification schemes and the history of nuclear-powered vessels.

Modern cruisers, destroyers and frigates are called surface combatants and act mainly as escorts for aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, auxiliaries and civilian craft, but the largest ones have gained a land attack role through the use of cruise missiles and a population defense role through missile defense.

See List of ships of the United States Navy for a more complete listing of ships past and present.

Aircraft carriers

U.S. Navy supercarrier USS Nimitz on November 3, 2003. Approximately forty-six aircraft are visible on the flight deck.

The ability to put most nations within striking distance of U.S. air power makes aircraft carriers the cornerstone of US forward deployment and deterrence strategy.[1] Multiple carriers are deployed around the world to provide military presence, respond quickly to crises, and participate in joint exercises with allied forces;[2] this has led the Navy to refer to their Nimitz-class carriers as "4.5 acres of sovereign and mobile American territory".[3] Former President Bill Clinton summed up the importance of the aircraft carrier by stating that "when word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident the first question that comes to everyone's lips is: where is the nearest carrier?"[4] The power and operational flexibility of a carrier lie in the aircraft of its carrier air wing. Made up of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, a carrier air wing is able to perform over 150 strike missions at once, hitting over 700 targets a day.[5] Carrier air wings also protect friendly forces, conduct electronic warfare, assist in special operations, and carry out search and rescue missions. The carriers themselves, in addition to enabling airborne operations, serve as command platforms for large battle groups or multinational task forces. U.S. Navy aircraft carriers can also host aircraft from other nations' navies; the French Navy's Rafale has operated, during naval exercises, from U.S. Navy flight decks.[6]

Following below is a list of all carriers (and their homeports) on active duty or under construction as of 10 January 2009. For a list of all carriers see List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy and List of escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy.

Nimitz class (10 ships)

Gerald R. Ford class (up to 10 planned in total)[7]

Amphibious assault ships

Amphibious assault ships carry Marines and are the platforms for Marine aircraft. They project power as aircraft carriers do, allowing the military to strike targets from a distance. Amphibious assault ships superficially resemble aircraft carriers except without an angled flight deck.

Amphibious command ships

USS Mount Whitney (LCC-JCC 20) in Souda Bay.jpg

An Amphibious command ship (LCC) of the United States Navy is a large, special purpose ship, originally designed to command large amphibious invasions. However, as amphibious invasions have become unlikely, they are now used as general command ships, and serve as floating headquarters for the various combatant commands. Currently, they are assigned to the 6th and 7th fleets as flagships.

Amphibious transport docks

U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD-17)

An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform/dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions.[9] Several navies currently operate this kind of ship. The ships are generally designed to transport troops into a war zone by sea, primarily using landing craft, although invariably they also have the capability to operate transport helicopters.

Dock landing ships

Dock landing ships are similar to amphibious transport dock ships, but lack hangar facilities to store and service embarked aircraft.

Submarines

There are two major types of submarines, attack and ballistic. Attack submarines (SSN) have tactical missions, including controlling naval and shipping activity, serving as cruise missile-launching platforms, and intelligence-gathering. Ballistic submarines (SSBN) primarily have the single strategic mission of nuclear deterrence by being hidden launching-platforms for nuclear ICBMs. However, some of these boats have been converted to (SSGN) and launch standard cruise missiles.[11]

Cruisers

USS Port Royal, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser.

These current guided-missile cruisers are very versatile and powerful, with capabilities for air warfare (AAW), surface warfare (SSW), and anti-submarine warfare (ASW).

Destroyers

File:USS Lassen 030615-N-0905V-006.jpg
A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, USS Lassen

The destroyer evolved from the need of navies to counter a new ship which made a devastating debut in the 1891 Chilean Civil War and in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894. This was the swift, small torpedo boat that could dash in close to the larger ships, loose their torpedoes and dash away. The world's navies recognized the need for a counter weapon, and so the torpedo boat destroyer—later just "destroyer"—was born. Modern destroyers have evolved greatly from this initial role; some are arguably the primary surface combatants of their fleets.

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USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51)
USS Bainbridge (DDG-96)
USS Barry (DDG-52)
USS Benfold (DDG-65)
USS Bulkeley (DDG-84)
USS Carney (DDG-64)
USS Chafee (DDG-90)
USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93)
USS Cole (DDG-67)
USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54)
USS Decatur (DDG-73)
USS Dewey (DDG-105)
USS Donald Cook (DDG-75)
USS Farragut (DDG-99)
USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62)
USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98)
USS Gonzalez (DDG-66)
USS Gravely (DDG-107)
USS Gridley (DDG-101)
USS Halsey (DDG-97)
USS Higgins (DDG-76)
USS Hopper (DDG-70)
USS Howard (DDG-83)
USS James E. Williams (DDG-95)
USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109)
USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53)
USS John S. McCain (DDG-56)
USS Kidd (DDG-100)
USS Laboon (DDG-58)
USS Lassen (DDG-82)
USS Mahan (DDG-72)
USS Mason (DDG-87)
USS McCampbell (DDG-85)
USS McFaul (DDG-74)
USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112)
USS Milius (DDG-69)
USS Mitscher (DDG-57)
USS Momsen (DDG-92)
USS Mustin (DDG-89)
USS Nitze (DDG-94)
USS O'Kane (DDG-77)
USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79)
USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60)
USS Pinckney (DDG-91)
USS Porter (DDG-78)
USS Preble (DDG-88)
USS Ramage (DDG-61)
USS Roosevelt (DDG-80)
USS Ross (DDG-71)
USS Russell (DDG-59)
USS Sampson (DDG-102)
USS Shoup (DDG-86)
USS Spruance (DDG-111)
USS Sterett (DDG-104)
USS Stethem (DDG-63)
USS Stockdale (DDG-106)
USS Stout (DDG-55)
USS The Sullivans (DDG-68)
USS Truxtun (DDG-103)
USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108)
USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110)
USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81)

Frigates

Frigates (according to the modern classification of U.S. navy warships) are smaller ships than destroyers. They are designed primarily to protect other ships (such as merchant convoys), and perform some Anti-Submarine Warfare duties. They are of more limited scope than destroyers, but are also more cost-efficient. The last Oliver Hazard Perry-class was decommissioned in September 2015, leaving the navy no active frigates.[13]

On January 15, 2015 U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced that ships of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) classes that are to be built in the future would be re-classified as "frigates". This would apply only to the future variations of these ships. Current ships will retain the LCS classification unless and until they are upgraded to the standards of the newer ships.[14]

Littoral combat ships

USS Freedom (LCS-1) Freedom-class
littoral combat ship
USS Independence (LCS-2) Independence-class
littoral combat ship

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A littoral combat ship (LCS) is a type of relatively small surface vessel intended for operations in the littoral zone (close to shore). It is "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals."[15]

It was announced in January 2015 that future and retrofitted versions of these two classes will be re-classified as frigates. The navy has currently built and/or planned out to 24 of a total of 52 ships.

Patrol ships

Mine countermeasures ships

A U.S. Navy mine countermeasures ship, USS Avenger (MCM-1)

Future Requirements

In a 2012 study called the "Force Structure Assessment", the Navy determined a post-2020 battle-force requirement of 306 ships.[20]

  • 12 fleet ballistic missile submarines
  • 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers
  • 48 nuclear-powered attack submarines
  • 0-4 nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines
  • 88 large, multi-mission, surface combatants
  • 52 small, multi-role, surface combatants
  • 33 amphibious landing ships
  • 29 combat logistics force ships
  • 33 support vessels

Historically significant vessels

The U.S. Navy has operated a number of vessels important to both United States and world naval history:

USS Batfish (SS-310), a Balao-class submarine holds the record for sinking 3 Japanese submarines within 5 days during WW2.

See also

Notes

  1. "Why the carriers?". Official United States Navy website. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
  2. "Fact file - Aircraft Carriers". United States Navy. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
  3. "World Wide Aircraft Carriers". globalSecurity.org. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
  4. The US Navy Aircraft Carriers. Official U.S. Navy Website. Retrieved 20 August 2006.
  5. "Carrier Design". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 8 April 2006.
  6. French Sailors Experience Flight Operations Aboard Roosevelt, US Navy Press Release, 22 July 2008, navy.mil
  7. Combat fleet of the world 2012
  8. http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/releases/photo-release-ingalls-shipbuilding-authenticates-keel-of-amphibious-assault-ship-tripoli-lha-7
  9. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. http://archive.defensenews.com/article/20140608/DEFREG02/306080012/Fallout-From-12th-LPD-Fine-Print-Old-Deal-Could-Cost-Yard-Destroyer
  11. http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/ohio/
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  13. http://www.naval-technology.com/news/newsus-navy-decommissions-last-oliver-hazard-perry-class-frigate-uss-simpson-4683397
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  15. PRODUCT LINES AT SUPSHIP BATH
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  19. Guardian grounded on Tubbataha Reef on the night of 17 January 2013. Removal the ship intact off of the reef has proven impossible, so it will be cut into three pieces, effectively ending her career. [1]
  20. http://news.usni.org/2014/07/07/document-navys-30-year-shipbuilding-plan-fiscal-year-2015
  21. Tucker, Spencer. Stephen Decatur: A Life Most Bold and Daring. Naval Institute Press; 2005. ISBN 978-1-55750-999-4. p. xi.
  22. "SSN-571 Nautilus." GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
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