The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, based on size, shape, load capacity, and purpose. Ships have supported exploration, trade, warfare, migration, colonization, imperialism, and science. After the 15th century, new crops that had come from and to the Americas via the European seafarers significantly contributed to world population growth. Ship transport is responsible for the largest portion of world commerce.
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
The Ton class were coastal minesweepers built in the 1950s for the Royal Navy, but also used by other navies such as the South African Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. They were intended to meet the threat of seabed mines laid in shallow coastal waters, rivers, ports and harbours, a task for which the existing ocean-going minesweepers of the Algerine-class were not suited.
The Type 062 gunboat is a class of gunboat of the People's Liberation Army Navy first developed and constructed in the 1950s. This unsophisticated class is relatively well-armed for its size and is the most widely built and exported Chinese naval vessel in terms of numbers. A total of 30 were built, initial boats being known as the Shanghai I class and later slightly improved boats being known as the Shanghai II class. The Shanghai I class was slightly smaller than its successor, the Shanghai II class, displacing 125 tons instead of 135 tons, and had a twin Chinese Type 66 57 mm gun mount forward. All other specifications are identical to the Shanghai II class, which replaced the 57 mm with twin 37 mm gun mounts. Some boats remained in active service well into the early 1990s in the PLA navy and longer in the case of the Korean People's Navy.
A danlayer was a type of vessel assigned to minesweeping flotillas during and immediately after World War II. They were usually small trawlers, fitted for the purpose of laying dans. A dan is a marker buoy which consists of a long pole moored to the seabed and fitted to float vertically, usually with a coded flag at the top.
Commissioned minesweepers and danlayers of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) from its formation on 1 October 1941 to the present. The RNZN was created two years into World War II. For coherence this article covers the war years from the start, and thus includes also the New Zealand minesweepers operating from the beginning of the war.
Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to naval specifications, others adapted from civilian use. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust vessels designed to work heavy trawls in all types of weather, and had large clear working decks. A minesweeper could be created by replacing the trawl with a mine sweep. Adding depth charge racks on the deck, ASDIC sonar below, and a 3-inch (76 mm) or 4-inch (102 mm) gun in the bow equipped the trawler for anti-submarine duties.
The M class were the standard minesweeper of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The vessels were the primary force in Germany's harbor defense command and were organized administratively into minesweeper flotillas.
A naval drifter is a boat built along the lines of a commercial fishing drifter but fitted out for naval purposes. The use of naval drifters is paralleled by the use of naval trawlers.
HMAS Goorangai was a 223-ton auxiliary minesweeper of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built in 1919 for the Government of New South Wales, then sold in 1926 to the fishing company Cam & Sons. The trawler was requisitioned for military service following the outbreak of World War II, converted into a minesweeper, and assigned to Melbourne. She was sunk in an accidental collision with MV Duntroon in 1940, becoming the RAN's first loss of World War II, and the first RAN surface ship to be lost in wartime.
ORP Żuraw was a Jaskółka-class minesweeper of the Polish Navy at the outset of World War II. Her name is the Polish word for the common crane. Żuraw participated in the defense of Poland during the German invasion of 1939. The ship was surrendered to the Germans following the Polish capitulation and renamed Oxhöft as a naval trawler. Following the German surrender at the end of the war, the ship was returned to Poland under her old name. In 1947, Żuraw was modified for use as a hydrographical survey ship and renamed Kompas. She was broken up in 1981.
Type 912 degaussing/deperming ship (ADG) is a type of little known auxiliary ships built in the Republic of China (PRC) for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and this class has several derivatives. As of 2022, Type 912 is the most numerous degaussing/deperming ship in PLAN, and the longest serving degaussing/deperming ships in PLAN, until its successor ype 911 finally begun to appear in early 2010s.
Type 645 oceanographic research ship is an oceanographic ship developed by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and other Chinese civilian establishments. Type 645 was an experimental program of the Fourth five-year plan of China and designed by the 2nd Directorate of 708th Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, which is also more commonly known as China Shipbuilding and Oceanic Engineering Design Academy (中国船舶及海洋工程设计研究) nowadays. Construction begun in October 1977 and the ship was launched in October 1978, entering service with PLAN in December 1978. There are a total of twelve laboratories on board totaling 257 square meters. Deployment proved that the design was successful, and three more units were built for civilian use, named as Xiangyanghong 9, Xiangyanghong 14 and Xiangyanghong 16 respectively. However, on May 2, 1993, Xiangyanghong 16 was rammed and sunk by a Cypriot LNG carrier more than nine time of its size in the East China Sea near Jeju Island, with the loss of three crew members. The sister ships in civilian service are often tasked with military and paramilitary missions and thus frequently come under PLAN and Chinese Coast Guard control.
Junella was a fishing trawler, best known for her service with the Royal Navy during the Falklands War. She was built in 1975 for J Marr & Son, a Hull-based fishing company. On 11 April 1982 she was taken up from trade by the British government and commissioned into the Royal Navy. She was fitted with Second World War era minesweeping gear at Rosyth Dockyard, manned by Royal Navy sailors and allocated to the 11th Mine Countermeasures Squadron. She sailed on 26 April but was unable to commence sweeping until after the 14 June Argentine surrender. In the meantime she was utilised to transfer troops and stores between ships and landed special forces troops at San Carlos. Demining operations commenced on 21 June. Junella returned to the United Kingdom on 11 August, carrying a defused Argentine mine.
Type 792 naval trawler is a Chinese auxiliary ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), deployed as intelligence gathering spy ship. Type 792 and its predecessor Type 8154, along with Type 8105 naval trawlers have all received NATO reporting name FT-14 AIT class, meaning Fishing Trawler - 14 Auxiliary Intelligence-gathering Trawler.
“Brave the Wave” sail training ship is a Type 2630 tall ship, a Chinese auxiliary ship currently in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Type 2630 full-rigged ship is named after the total area of its sails, which is 2630 square meters, and this full-rigged ship is designed by Damen Group, then modified by the builder Guangzhou Shipyard International to meet PLAN requirement, such as converting the kitchen and larder/pantry for cooking Chinese food. It has a sister ship Royal Navy of Oman Shabab Oman II. The ship is 85 meter long, beam of 11 meter, displaces over 1200 tons, capable of 18 kts. Launched in 2017 and entered Chinese service in the same year, Type 2630 only requires 25 crew to operate, and can accommodate an additional 50 naval cadets onboard.
Type 917 torpedo retriever (TR/TWR) / range support vessel / target ship is a type of little known auxiliary ship built in the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).As a successor of earlier Type 803 torpedo retriever, Type 917 TR/TWR/AGT has received NATO reporting name Damen class, or 大门 in Chinese, meaning "big gate". As with its predecessors, once these have retired from their original torpedo retrieving duties, they are converted to range support vessels/target ships,until finally sunk as targets. Specification:
THLMT unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV)s are uncrewed vehicles developed in the People's Republic of China (PRC) by Tianjin Hanhai Lanfan Marine Technology Co. Ltd (天津瀚海蓝帆海洋科技有限公司), most of which are in service with various Chinese governmental agencies/departments, and government-owned enterprises.
People's Liberation Army Navy 
