Ship Hull Designations

Confederacy Ship Hull Designations

   Most government vessels large enough to be called a 'ship' are assigned a "hull number" which is a combination of alphabetic type code and hull serial number.  Note that for most series, the hull numbers start from a designated first number, often '1' or '100' or '101' or similar.
   Many of the type codes were copied from the US Navy/NATO hull designation system.  That system was created in 1921 for use by the US Navy and was adopted with few changes by all NATO navies after World War 2 and NATO's creation.
   The following list shows all hull type codes used by the Confederacy Navy during the Swarm War.

(This list is incomplete -ZM User (talk) 21:05, 23 April 2024 (PDT))

AF - Auxiliary, Freight (cargo)

• Silo Class

AFS - Auxiliary, Freight (cargo), (???)

• 001-012 Peter Minuit Class (Heresy)

AGI - Auxiliary, General-Purpose, Intelligence (gathering)

• Oxford/"Bat" Class

AGS - Auxiliary, General-Purpose, Surveying and Exploring

• 001-030 K'treel Explorer Class

AH - Auxiliary, Hospital

• 001-020 Nurse Class

AKE - Auxiliary, Freight (cargo), (???)

• 001-025 Trader Class

AKF - Auxiliary, Freight (Cargo), Fast

• 001-066+ Stagecoach Class

ALS - Auxiliary, Livestock Transport, (???)

• 001-006 Stable Class

AP - Auxiliary, Personnel Transport

• 001-233+ Aurora Class

APAM . Auxiliary, Personnel, Archaic, Medium

• 01-02+ Corona or "Colony" Class

APC - Auxiliary, Personnel Transport, Courier

• 001-071+ Courier Class

APF - Auxiliary, Personnel Transport, (colony) Founder

• 001-003 William Penn Class

APM - Auxiliary, Personnel Transport, Medium

• 001-101+ Kilo Class

APL - Auxiliary, Personnel Transport, Large

• 001-018+ Valhalla ("Cube") Class

AVT - Auxiliary, aViation, Tender

• Lawrence Class

BB - Battleship

• Vesuvius Class
• Dreadnaught Class

BC - Battlecruiser

• Emperor Class

BCB - Battlecruiser, Beerat (source)

• 001-008 Kongo Class

CC - Cruiser, Command

• 001-014+ Goddess Class (used as BCE, escort battlecruiser)
• 050-060+ Hero Class (used as BC, battlecruiser)

CG - Cruiser, Guided Missile

• 001-004+ Semmes Class

CH - Cruiser, Heavy

• Sirius Class

CHB - Cruiser, Heavy, Beerat (source)

• Kent Class

CL - Cruiser, Light

• 001-037+ Europa Class

CLAA - Cruiser, Light, Anti-Aircraft (small craft)

• Atlanta Class

CM - Cruiser, Medium

• 101-122+ Raptor Class

CNV (I have no idea what this code means -ZM)

• 101-112 Mercury Class

CSS - "Captured Sa'arm Ship"

• CSS Stone

CVA - Small-Craft Carrier, Attack (large/armored) (Note 1)

• 001-026+ Presidential Class

CVC - Small-Craft Carrier, Command

• 001-002 Victory Class

CVF - Small-Craft Carrier, Marine Close Support

• 001-012+ Midway Class

CVI - Small-Craft Carrier, Illustrious Class

• 001-065+ Illustrious Class

CVL - Small-Craft Carrier, Light (small)

• Nagina Class

DD - Destroyer

• 001-046+ Africa Class
• 101-137+ Asian Class
• Shimakaze Class

DE - Destroyer Escort

• 001-100, 200+ Castle (actually 'Patrol Corvettes')
• 101-119+ Patrician Class (actually 'Patrol Corvette, Missile')
• 201-230+ Shiro Class (actually 'Patrol Frigate')
• 1000-2999 Ainsworth Class (actually 'Patrol Corvettes')

FF - Frigate

• Minekaze Class

LHA - Assault Ship (Note 2)

• 3001-3041 - Sir Lancelot Class

LFR - Assault Support, Fire Support Ship, Railgun

• 001-041+ [[Absecon Class

LHA - Assault Support, (Helicopter), Assault

• 001-039+ Tarawa Class

MMF - "Massive Manufacturing Facility"?

• 002-013 Reproduction Services Class

PCM - Patrol/Combatant, Missile

• 001-078+ Archerfish

   Note 1: The hull type code "CV" is a leftover from the US Navy's original type code system created in 1921.  At that time, naval aircraft were of marginal use and their motherships were assigned to the scouting fleet as scout cruisers with really long-range binoculars.  Ergo, their designation as "Cruiser, aViation". "CA" would have made more sense but "CA" was already in use for "Cruiser, Armored (heavy)".  By the time aircraft carriers were recognized as a major combatant class in the 1930s, the designation "CV" was already entrenched.

   Note 2: The hull type code "L" is a leftover from the US Navy's original type code system created in 1921.  When ships that would allow the 'Allies' to force a landing on a defended shore, "Amphibious Landing" ships, were first envisioned in the 1930s during the leadup to World War 2, the desired "A" was already in use for 'Auxiliary' ships.  It was decided that all 'landing' ships would instead carry the leading designation 'L' for 'Amphibious Landing'.  Transferred to the Confederacy buildup for the Swarm War, the 'L' was kept for space-borne assaults but it now means "Assault Support".
   The only actual water-floating "Landing" ships the Confederacy built for the Swarm War were built on Earth for use by planetary militia.  WW2-style LSTs built with Confederacy materials saw extensive use in the Great Lakes during the fight for Chicago and Milwaukee until the 'Kitten' system of self-propelled transporters was developed and released to militia use.  Even afterwards, LSTs were used to transfer newly-built tanks and other ground vehicles from the east side of Lake Michigan where they were built or delivered to the west side where they were used in combat.  After the fighting in North America moved away from the Great Lakes, LSTs were used for the same purposes for the rest of the Earth-side war to deliver ground and ground-effect vehicles to S'arm-held shores.