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A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/nationality. In the modern environment, prefixes are cited inconsistently in civilian service, whereas ...
SSN is the US Navy hull classification symbol for such vessels; the SS (as 'Ship Submersible') denotes a submarine [1] and the N denotes nuclear power. The designation SSN is used for interoperability throughout NATO under STANAG 1166, [2] though navies use other terms.
SS – Submarine, class/type of ship SSBN (aka Boomers ) – Hull classification symbol for ballistic missile submarine (Submersible Ship Ballistic Nuclear) SSES – Ships Signals Exploitation Space: compartment on a ship where embarked NAVSECGRU personnel, known a Cryptologic Technicians, do their work
A heavily modified or repurposed ship may receive a new symbol, and either retain the hull number or receive a new one. Also, the system of symbols has changed a number of times since it was introduced in 1907, so ships' symbols sometimes change without anything being done to the physical ship.
It is important to understand that hull number-letter prefixes are not acronyms, and should not be carelessly treated as abbreviations of ship type classifications. Thus, "DD" does not stand for anything more than "Destroyer". "SS" simply means "Submarine". And "FF" is the post-1975 type code for "Frigate." [7]
Hospital ships (AH) were given names related to their function, such as Comfort and Mercy. Landing ship, tank (LST) built for the United States Navy during and immediately after World War II were only given an LST-number hull designation, but on 1 July 1955, county or Louisiana-parish names were assigned to those ships which remained in service ...
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SS indicated that the vessel was a submarine, and the K suffix that it was a hunter-killer. The United States Navy does not currently operate any submarines of this type, and so the designation is inactive.