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30-569: The Hecla class was a class of bomb vessels of the Royal Navy of the early 19th century. They were designed for use as bomb or mortar ships and were very heavily built. Eight ships were launched; all were converted for use as exploration or survey ships. Four ships of the class are known for the role they played in Arctic and Antarctic exploration. Fury and Hecla sailed with William Edward Parry on his explorations in search of

60-706: A Craft Identification Number (CIN) or Hull Identification Number (HIN), standardised as EN ISO 10087:2006. The numbers are a permanent, unique, fourteen-digit alphanumeric identifier issued to all marine vessels in Europe. The numbering system is mandated by the European Recreational Craft Directive and descended from the American system. Larger vessels over 300 gross tons also receive a permanent international IMO ship identification number , and European vessels over 20 metres receive

90-458: A class whose production had been discontinued, a similar distinction might be made. Ships in a class often have names linked by a common factor: e.g. Trafalgar -class submarines ' names all begin with T ( Turbulent , Tireless , Torbay ); and Ticonderoga -class cruisers are named after American battles ( Yorktown , Bunker Hill , Gettysburg , Anzio ). Ships of the same class may be referred to as sister ships . The name of

120-457: A naval ship class is most commonly the name of the lead ship , the first ship commissioned or built of its design. However, other systems can be used without confusion or conflict. A descriptive name may be used; for example it was decided to group destroyers made to the same design as HMS Tomahawk , all named after weapons, as the Weapon rather than Tomahawk class. In European navies, a class

150-459: A number prefixed by a letter indicating the role of that type of vessel. For example, Project 641 had no name, though NATO referred to its members as Foxtrot-class submarines . The ship classification does not completely correspond common designation, particularly for destroyers, frigates and corvettes. Russia has its own classification system for these ships: The British Royal Navy (RN) has used several methods of naming classes. In addition to

180-588: A permanent ENI number . An example CID/HIN might appear as "GB-ABC00042-A8-99", where "GB" is the ISO 3166-1 country code, "ABC" would be the Acme Boat Company's Manufacturer Identity Code (MIC); "00042" would be the forty-second hull constructed by the organisation; "A8" would be January 1998 for the date keel was laid to the nearest month and "99" denoted as the year 1999 as the particular model year. Months are denoted from A…L for January…December. In

210-501: A three-digit type number for every class in service or in advanced project state. Modified versions were identified by a single letter suffix. After the reunification of Germany the German Navy ( Deutsche Marine ) kept the system. Informally, classes are also traditionally named after their lead ships. The Indonesian Navy has a traditional naming system for its ships. In addition, the ship's type and missions can be identified by

240-619: Is named after the first ship commissioned regardless of when it was ordered or laid down. In some cases this has resulted in different class names being used in European and U.S. references; for example, European sources record the Colorado -class battleships of the United States Navy as the " Maryland class", as USS  Maryland was commissioned before USS  Colorado . The West German Navy ( Bundesmarine ) used

270-547: Is never reused and therefore provides a means to uniquely identify a particular ship. For example, there have been at least eight vessels named USS Enterprise , but CV-6 uniquely identifies the World War II aircraft carrier from all others. For convenience, the combined designation, which is painted on the sides of the hulls, is frequently called the "hull number". The official Navy Style Guide says that hull numbers do not include hyphens. The U.S. Navy sometimes ignores

300-526: The Confederate States Navy . Generally accepted by military historians and widely used in the more recent books, webpages and papers on the subject matter (most notably the releases of Osprey Publishing ), these latter-day classifications are sometimes considered "semi-official" (although they are not). Contemporary records, such as the " Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in

330-632: The Northwest Passage , with Fury being lost to ice on the second. Meteor was renamed Beacon and used as a survey ship , while Aetna and Thunder were both used as survey ships. Sulphur was also used as a survey ship, at one time being commanded by Edward Belcher who later commanded an expedition in search of John Franklin (though not in Sulphur ). Erebus was one of two ships commanded by James Clark Ross during his exploration of Antarctica and by Franklin on his ill-fated search for

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360-473: The 1970s, the guided missile frigates that were then redesignated as guided missile cruisers had their designations changed from DLG to CG; in this case, they kept their previous numbers. Some other guided-missile frigates were redesignated as guided missile destroyers (DDG) and given new numbers. Hull numbers have been used to identify armored tanks for the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps , and other military services, also. In Europe, ships are given

390-544: The Manufacturers Index Code (MIC) and should only be letters. The following five characters are the unique serial number assigned by the Manufacturer, and can be a series of letters and/or numbers with the exception of the letters O, I, and Q (they can be easily mistaken). The last four characters determine the model and certification year of the boat. The HIN may be found on the aft of the vessel in

420-596: The Northwest Passage. The other was the Vesuvius -class bomb vessel Terror . Both ships were lost during this last voyage. Ship class In the course of building a class of ships, design changes might be implemented. In such a case, the ships of different design might not be considered of the same class; each variation would either be its own class, or a subclass of the original class (see County-class cruiser for an example). If ships are built of

450-748: The United Kingdom, the British Marine Federation manage the issuing of Manufacturer Identity Code on behalf of the British Department for Business Innovation and Skills . Amateur boat builders in the United Kingdom may apply for one-off HIN from the Royal Yacht Association who will issue one number from their "GB-RYAxxxxx" range. The hull number in Russian is known as bortovoi nomer . During

480-586: The War of the Rebellion " (Series 2, Volume 1, Part 1), show that the modern nomenclature was not in use at the time. The unofficial retro-applying of ship classes can occasionally lead to confusion. For example, while American works consistently adhere to the City - and Columbia -class monikers, works of British origin refer to the same classes as Cairo class and Tennessee class respectively, in compliance with

510-582: The accepted European convention, some classes have been named after a common theme in the included ships' names, e.g., Tribal-class destroyers , and some classes were implemented as an organizational tool, making traditional methods of naming inefficient. For instance, the Amphion class is also known as the A class. Most destroyer classes were known by the initial letter used in naming the vessels, e.g., V and W-class destroyers . Classification by letter also helped to conflate similar smaller classes of ships as in

540-525: The case of the A-class destroyers of 1913 whose names spread across the alphabet. Since the end of the Second World War , Royal Navy ship classes have also been known by their type number (e.g. Type 45 destroyer .) For the United States Navy , the first ship in a class to be authorized by Congress is the designated class leader and gives the name to the class, regardless of the order in which

570-673: The current convention to historical naval vessels sharing similarities, such as those of the American Civil War , where the Union Navy built several vessels in series, which can be termed "classes" as presently understood. Common examples include the Passaic -class monitor and the City-class ironclad , among many others, for the Union side, and Columbia class or Richmond class , for those ironclads in service with

600-405: The first number on the ship's three-digit hull number , which is placed on the front bows and the back of the stern. The naming convention is: Russian (and Soviet ) ship classes are formally named by the numbered project that designed them. That project sometimes, but not always, had a metaphorical name, and almost always had a NATO reporting name . In addition, the ships of the class would have

630-487: The hull in at least two places. A Hull Identification Number (HIN) is a unique set of 12 characters, similar to the Vehicle Identification Number which is found on automobiles. In 1972, The United States Coast Guard was asked to create a standardized format for HINs to allow for better tracking of accidents and history of boats. This HIN format is as follows: The first three characters consist of

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660-703: The hull numbers DEG 7 through 11. When a naval vessel is modified for use as a different type of ship, it is often assigned a new hull number along with its new classification. Often the actual number remains the same while the hull classification changes. For example, a heavy cruiser (CA) that was converted into a guided missile cruiser became a CG and its number was changed. This happened with Albany  (CA-123) , Chicago  (CA-136) , and Columbus  (CA-74) , which became, respectively, CG-10, CG-11, and CG-12. Also, during World War II , nine Cleveland -class light cruisers (CL) were converted to light aircraft carriers (CVL), with different numbers. During

690-568: The military, a lower number implies an older vessel. For civilian use, the Hull Identification Number (HIN) is used to trace the boat's history. The precise usage varies by country and type. For civilian craft manufactured in the United States, the hull number is given to the vessel when it is built and forms part of the hull identification number, which uniquely identifies the vessel and must be permanently affixed to

720-598: The modern Royal Navy naming conventions. By the time the United States entered World War II, the current naming convention was in place, though it remains unclear as to exactly how and when the practice originated. Merchant ships are almost always classed by a classification society . These vessels are said to be in class when their hull, structures, machinery, and equipment conform to International Maritime Organization and MARPOL standards. Vessels out of class may be uninsurable and/or not permitted to sail by other agencies. A vessel's class may include endorsements for

750-461: The sequence of hull numbering. For example, the Navy built the last Los Angeles -class nuclear submarine as Cheyenne  (SSN-773) . Next the Navy built the three Seawolf -class submarines SSN-21 through SSN-23 . Then the Navy later resumed the original sequence of hull numbers with USS  Virginia  (SSN-774) for its next class of nuclear attack submarines . This change in numbering

780-938: The ships during their construction are never reused by the U.S. Navy. For example, the Perth -class guided missile destroyers that were built for the Royal Australian Navy in Bay City, Michigan , were given the hull numbers DDG-25, DDG-26, and DDG-27; but these hull numbers were not assigned to any American destroyers after the Australian Navy had changed those to its own identification numbers. Several other new warships have been constructed in American shipyards for countries such as West Germany and Taiwan . Guided-missile frigates were constructed in Portugal under military-assistance aid packages were given

810-459: The ships of that class are laid down, launched or commissioned. Due to numbering conventions, the lead ship often has the lowest hull number of its class. (During World War II , the award of construction contracts was not always congruent with completion, so several ships had higher hull numbers than later ships.) Before the 1920s, naval vessels were classified according to shared characteristics. However, naval historians and scholars retro-apply

840-413: The type of cargo such as "oil carrier", "bulk carrier", "mixed carrier" etc. It may also include class notations denoting special abilities of the vessel. Examples of this include an ice class , fire fighting capability, oil recovery capability, automated machinery space capability, or other special ability. Hull number A hull number is a serial identification number given to a boat or ship. For

870-471: The uppermost right corner. Also, the HIN may be stated on the title, registration, and insurance documents. The United States Navy , United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employ hull numbers in conjunction with a hull classification symbol to uniquely identify vessels and to aid identification. A particular combination of hull classification and hull number

900-642: Was done because the Seawolf class was to have a radical new and large design for the continuation of the Cold War into the 21st century, but cost overruns combined with the end of the Cold War , and the resulting reduction of the Navy's construction budget resulted in only three of these boats being constructed: Seawolf  (SSN-21) , Connecticut  (SSN-22) , and Jimmy Carter  (SSN-23) . Also, whenever warships are constructed in American shipyards for foreign navies, any hull numbers used to identify

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