United States Navy ships

The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, meaning '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 that 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 reactor 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

Aircraft carriers are the major strategic arm of the U.S. Navy, which has the largest carrier fleet in the world. The carriers allow U.S. air power to reach most areas of the world.

Due to their ability to put most nations within striking distance of U.S. air power, aircraft......
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