“Excellence is not a skill it’s an attitude.” This phrase fully informs the US Navy. Despite not having the largest fleet of any nation, the U.S. Navy is unquestionably the most powerful force on the oceans. According to the Naval Vessel Register and published statistics, the 490 US Navy ships have in its active fleet and reserve fleet, and there are additional 90 ships either being planned, ordered, or already under construction.
All United States Navy commissioned ships have names that begin with USS, which stands for United States Ship. Under the Military Sealift Command, non-commissioned US Navy ships with a majority civilian crews have names that start with USNS, which stands for United States Naval Ship.
The Secretary of the Navy chooses the names of the ships. The names include those of states, cities, villages, notable figures, significant sites, illustrious conflicts, fish, and ideas. Typically, the names of various ship types come from a variety of sources.
The number US Navy Ships:
Data collected and updated by the Navy show that,
- Aircraft Carriers: A vessel that acts as a seagoing airbase and has a full-length flight deck as well as spaces for storing, preparing for deployment, and bringing back aircraft is known as an aircraft carrier. As it enables a naval force to project air power globally without depending on local bases for the staging of aircraft operations, it is typically the capital ship of a fleet. There are 11 in the US Navy ships .
Nimitz class (10 in active service)
Gerald R. Ford class (1 in active service)
- Amphibious warfare ships: Landing warships are referred to as amphibious warships together. Their primary responsibilities include commanding command landing operations, transporting landing troops, landing tools, combat vehicles, weapons, and equipment, and supporting fire operations.
These includes the followings:
- Amphibious assault ships: Landing, helicopter dock, or LHD, and landing, helicopter assault, or LHA, are subtypes of amphibious assault ships. (also known as a commando carrier or an amphibious assault carrier) are a class of amphibious warfare ship used in amphibious assaults to land and support ground forces on hostile territory.The duty of an amphibious assault ship is fundamentally different from that of a regular aircraft carrier: instead of supporting strike aircraft, its aviation facilities are mostly used to house helicopters to support forces on land.
Wasp class (7 in active service)
America class (2 in active service)
- Amphibious command ships: The American Navy’s amphibious command ships (LCC) are substantial special purpose ships that were initially intended to be in charge of sizable amphibious landings. They are now utilised as general command ships and act as floating headquarters for two forward deployed, numbered Fleet commands, but amphibious invasions have become less plausible as a result. They are now serving as flagships for the 6th and 7th fleets.
Blue Ridge class (2 in active service)
- Amphibious transport docks: A warship that embarks, transports, and lands members of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions is an amphibious transport dock, commonly referred to as a landing platform dock or LPD. [9] This style of ship is now used by numerous navies. Although they always have the ability to fly transport, utility, and attack helicopters as well as multi-mission tilt-rotor planes, the ships are often built to deliver troops into a battle zone by sea, mostly utilising landing craft.
San Antonio class (11 in active service)
- Dock landing ships: The term dock landing ships, often referred to as landing ship, dock, or LSD, refers to amphibious warfare ships with well docks for launching and transporting landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Some well-decked ships, like those of the Soviet Ivan Rogov class, also include bow openings that allow them to transfer vehicles right onto a beach (like a Landing Ship, Tank). Helicopters are also used by modern dock landing ships.
Whidbey Island class (8 in active service)
Harpers Ferry class (4 in active service)
- Expeditionary mobile base: Expeditionary mobile bases are adaptable, modular platforms that are semi-submersible and used for large-scale logistics operations like moving vehicles and equipment from the ocean to the land. These ships greatly lessen reliance on foreign ports and offer assistance when ports are not accessible.
Lewis B. Puller class (2 in active service)
- Cruisers: Cruisers and guided missile cruisers A particular class of warship is the CG. The cruiser’s duties varied depending on the ship and navy, frequently included air defence, commerce raiding, and coastal bombardment.
Ticonderoga class (27 completed; 22 in active service, 5 retired) – the first ship class with the AEGIS combat system
- Destroyers: Destroyers DDG are swiftly agile destroyers with extended endurance that are designed to protect larger ships in a fleet, convoy, or battle group from more powerful, close-range attackers. By the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these “torpedo boat destroyers” (TBD)—originally created in the late 19th century as a deterrent against torpedo boats—were “big, quick, and highly armed torpedo boats designed to kill other torpedo boats.”
Destroyers that can fire guided missiles are known as guided-missile destroyers. Many are also capable of conducting anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine operations. These ships are known by their NATO standard designation, DDG. Nations utilise their hull pennant numbers differently depending on whether to prefix the destroyer D designation or not.
Arleigh Burke (68 in active service of 87 planned)
Zumwalt class (2 in active service)
- Frigates: Frigates are smaller ships than destroyers, according to the present classification of US navy ships (FF or FFG). They are made primarily to defend other vessels, like commercial convoys, and to carry out some anti-submarine warfare operations. Although less expensive than destroyers, they have less advanced technology.
Constellation class (2 on order, 20 planned)
- Littoral combat ships: The US Navy has a class of LCS surface ships that are relatively small and are designed for operations in the littoral zone, or close to shore. The surface combatant was “envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of countering anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals.”
The USS Freedom, the first littoral combat ship, was commissioned on November 8, 2008, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Veteran’s Park. On January 16, 2010, at Mobile, Alabama, the USS Independence, the second ship and the first of the trimaran type, was commissioned.
Freedom class (10 in active service, 6 under construction, 1 planned)
Independence (11 in active service, 6 under construction, 2 planned)
- Submarines: Watercraft with independent underwater operation include submarines SSN, SSBN, and SSGN. Attack and ballistic are the two current types. The tactical duties of “attack submarines” (SSN) include the management of naval and shipping operations, acting as platforms for the launching of cruise missiles, and intelligence gathering. The primary strategic objective of “ballistic submarines” (SSBN), which serve as covert launchers for nuclear SLBMs, is nuclear deterrence. Some of these vessels, nevertheless, have undergone SSGN conversions and can now fire conventional cruise missiles.
Conclusion
The United States’ naval force will continue to grow as the country’s foreign policy interests globally expand. Naval technology has improved exponentially in the digital age. Better armors protect sailors, aircraft carriers are the ultimate warship and submarines have been used for reconnaissance missions and spying. Modernized naval forces are more agile and a faster response time is important for military operations around the world.
