Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ships)

Articles about ships that have standard prefixes should include them in the article title; for example, HMS Ark Royal, USS Enterprise. (Some object to the "extra work" required to use italics. The practice gives a good indication of the author's competence: one who is too lazy to use correct typography is too lazy to have created an encyclopedia article worth reading). Later references to the same ship in the article (which should not be links) can just use Ark Royal or Enterprise. If more than one prefix was used, choose the most well-known and create a redirect from the other; for example, SS Titanic, RMS Titanic. Articles about ships that do not have standard prefixes should be titled as (Nationality) (type) (Name); for example, Soviet aircraft carrier Kuznetsov. If the ship changed nationalities without changing names (as did Kuznetsov), use the first nationality. If the name was changed with the ownership, create two articles with one ending at the transfer and the other beginning then; for example, the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare, which became the Soviet battleship Novorossiisk.

Standard prefixes include:

SS (Steam Ship)
MV (Motor Vessel)
USS (United States Ship)
RMS (Royal Mail Ship)
HMS (His/Her Majesty's Ship -- used by both their Britannic and Saudi majesties)
HMAS (His/Her Majesty's Australian Ship)
HMCS (His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship)
HMNZS (His/Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship)
HDMS (His/Her Danish Majesty's Ship)
SMS (Seiner Majestät Schiff, used by Germany during WWI only)
SM U-## (Seiner Majestät Unterseeboot, used by Germany during WWI only)
ARA (Armada de la Republic Argentina)
BRP (Barka ng Republika ng Pilipinas)
INS (either Indian or Israeli Naval Ship)
HS (Hellenic Ship or Submarine)
HrMs or ZMs (Hare Majesteit's or Zijne Majesteit's, used by the Netherlands)
KV (Kystvakt), used by the Norwegian Coast Guard

Do not use ship types as prefixes; for example, HSK Kormoran and CVN Nimitz are wrong. Do not use English abbreviations for the ship's nationality as prefixes; for example, IJN Yamato and USSRS Kirov are wrong. Yes, you can find examples of both these mistakes on the Web. They are still wrong. Use the prefix that the ship's crew used while the ship was in operation.

Some types of ship are known only by a hull number -- American PT boats, German U-boats. In these cases, spell out the ship type -- Patrol Torpedo boat 109, Unterseeboot 238 -- for the main article, and create a redirect or a disambiguation page at the short form -- PT-109 can probably be a automatic redirect, U-238 must be a disambiguation page.

Many ships have had the same name; there have been eight USS Enterprises. In these cases, create a single article beginning with a statement like "Eight ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Enterprise."

Describe the first ship.

While ships remain undescribed, insert a horizontal rule (a line consisting only of four consecutive minus signs) and describe the next ship.

Repeat.

When no ships remain undescribed, click on the "Save" button.

Ships' hull numbers should always be specified when available. Enclose them in parentheses after the name, with a hyphen between the letters and the digits; for example, USS Enterprise (CV-6). Of course, these are not part of the page title, and should be outside the link.

Ship names are italicized when possible. Prefixes and hull numbers are not.

Articles about a ship class should be named (Lead ship name) "class" (type); for example, Ohio class submarine. Do not be overly specific in the type; for example, use "aircraft carrier", not "light escort fleet assault carrier". Use the singular form of the ship type; for example, "submarine", not "submarines".