List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy

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This is a list of auxiliaries of the United States Navy. It covers the various types of ships that support the frontline combat vessels of the United States Navy.

Auxiliary ships which function as hospital ships and as oilers are to be found in their own articles: List of United States Navy hospital ships and List of United States Navy oilers. Escort carriers, amphibious warfare vessels, and some mine warfare vessels were also originally classed as auxiliaries but were later given their own hull classification symbols outside the auxiliary series (which all begin with an 'A'). Links to these and other list articles of similar ships can be found throughout this article.

Yard and district craft also function as auxiliaries but generally are smaller and less capable than their ocean-going counterparts, and so they generally remain in harbors and coastal areas. Their hull classification symbols begin with a 'Y'.

Ship status is indicated as either currently active [A], ready reserve [R], inactive [I], or precommissioning [P]. Ships in the inactive category include only ships in the inactive reserve, ships which have been disposed from US service have no listed status. Ships in the precommissioning category include ships under construction or on order.

Listed ship classes will often state 'MA type' or 'MC type'. The difference is that 'MC Type' refers to ships designed by the United States Maritime Commission aka MarCom, while 'MA Type' refers to ships designed or converted under MarCom's successor agency, the United States Maritime Administration or MarAd. They are in fact the same designs, and the year 1950 is the date at which MarAd succeeded MarCom.

Historical overview

Prior to the creation of the auxiliary hull classification system, ships that performed such tasks had no symbol or code to identify them, only informal designations such as Fleet Collier No. 1.

World War I

During World War I the Navy created the Section patrol (SP) and identification number (ID) system to register civilian vessels for naval acquisition. The ID series can be considered a forerunner of the current auxiliary hull numbering system, and some ships with ID numbers were later given 'A' hull symbols.

Also during WWI a series of mass-produced ships were designed by the Emergency Fleet Corporation, but few were completed before the end of the war and even fewer became naval auxiliaries.

Pre-World War II

Until World War II the US auxiliary fleet was notable for being composed of non-standard ships which had been purchased ad-hoc. Very few were designed specifically for their intended role.

Interesting examples from the 1920's of rare early auxiliaries deliberately designed for their roles include the destroyer tenders USS Dobbin (AD-3) and USS Whitney (AD-4), the repair ship USS Medusa (AR-1), and the submarine tender USS Holland (AS-3): these 4 ships had the same length hulls and similar superstructures, so they were likely of the same basic design.

In the late 1930's the Navy began the construction of 22 large tenders and repair ships to a new basic design: all were nearly identical in hull form, power plant, and superstructure (but the seaplane tenders had a large hangar that the others lacked):

5 destroyer tenders (AD)s of the Dixie-class
4 repair ships (AR)s of the Vulcan-class
7 submarine tenders (AS)s of the Fulton-class
2 seaplane tenders (AV)s of the Curtiss-class
4 seaplane tenders (AV)s of the slightly longer Currituck class

The last of these 22 ships (the submarine tender Sperry) was scrapped in 2011.<ref name=MARAD_2011>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Also at this time the Navy began the construction of 4 large net layers (AN)s and 3 minelayers (CM)s to a different basic design, but changing requirements resulted in all but one minelayer being redesignated as transports (AP)s and then converted into Landing ships, vehicle (LSV)s.<ref group=A>These ships were USS Monitor (AN-1), USS Montauk (AN-2), USS Osage (AN-3), USS Saugus (AN-4), USS Terror (CM-5), USS Catskill (CM-6), and USS Ozark (CM-7); only Terror was not converted to an LSV</ref><ref>Friedman, 2002, pp 178-182</ref>

World War II

Template:See also During the naval build-up for World War II over 700 vessels of Maritime Commission (MarCom, later MarAd) standard designs were converted to US Navy auxiliaries,<ref group=A>MarCom ships converted to escort carriers, oilers, and amphibious warfare ships are not included in these counts, even if they had 'A' hull symbols. If a ship had multiple 'A' symbols, it is counted only under the last assigned</ref> as were a few Landing Ships Medium (LSM)s:

58 Type B barracks barges: all APL
83 Type C1 ships: 2 AE, 3 AG,<ref group=A>AG-169, AG-171, AG-175 were Type C1 ships</ref> 2 AGOR, 2 AGP, 3 AH, 61 AK, 2 AP, 4 APC, 1 ARG, 3 AVS
59 Type C2 ships: 15 AE, 3 AF, 22 AK, 5 AKS, 13 AP, 1 AVS
63 Type C3 ships: 12 AD, 29 AP, 5 AR, 11 AS, 6 AV
42 Type C4 ships: 6 AH, 2 AK, 34 AP
107 Type EC2 Liberty ships: 63 AK, 4 AKN, 17 AKS, 5 AR, 14 ARG, 2 ARV, 2 AVS
2 Type ET1 Liberty ships: both AW
26 Type R ships: all AF
88 Type S3 ships (most LSTs): 14 AGP, 5 AKS, 7 APB, 1 APL, 13 ARB, 2 ARC, 39 ARL, 3 ARST, 2 ARVA, 2 ARVE
76 T1 tankers: all AOG
4 T2 tankers: 1 AG, 1 AOG, 2 AW
79 Type V ships: all AT
34 Type VC2 Victory ships: 3 AG,<ref group=A>AG-172, AG-173, AG-174 were Type VC2 Victory ships</ref> 29 AK, 2 AKS
4 LSMs: all ARSD

Post World War II

During the Cold War over 100 United States Maritime Administration (MarAd) standard designs were converted to US Navy auxiliaries:<ref group=A>Escort carriers converted to Aircraft Transports (AKV)s are counted here</ref>

8 Type C1 ships: 1 AF, 5 AGM,<ref group=A>AGM-13 through AGM-18 were all Type C1 ships (AGM-16 converted to AGS)</ref> 2 AGS<ref group=A>AGS-35, AGS-36 were Type C1 ships</ref>
3 Type C2 ship: 2 AE, 1 AG<ref group=A>AG-178 was a Type C2 ship</ref>
4 Type C3 ships / CVEs: all AKV
4 Type C4 ships: 1 AG,<ref group=A>AG-153 was a Type C4 ship</ref> 3 AGM<ref group=A>AGM-9, AGM-10, AGM-23 were Type C4 ships</ref>
8 Type C5 ships: 3 ACS, 3 AK, 2 AVB
7 Type C6 ships: all ACS
7 Type C7 ships: 3 AK, 4 AKR
20 Type EC2 Liberty ships: 1 AGM,<ref group=A>AGM-12 was a Type EC2 Liberty ship</ref> 16 AGR, 3 AGTR
2 Type R ships: both AF<ref group=A>AF-58, AF-59</ref>
2 Type S3 ships (LSTs): 1 AG,<ref group=A>AG-157 was an LST</ref> 1 AVB
17 Type S4 ships: 2 AGS, 13 AKV, 2 ARC
3 T2 tankers: all AGM<ref group=A>AGM-19, AGM-20, AGM-21 were converted T2 tankers</ref>
19 T3 tankers / CVEs: all AKV
31 Type VC2 Victory ships: 11 AG,<ref group=A>AG-164 was a Type VC2 Victory ship; 10 more were to have been converted to depot ships for use in Vietnam, they were given hull numbers AG-179 through AG-189, but the conversions were cancelled</ref> 4 AF, 8 AGM,<ref group=A>AGM-1, AGM-3 through AGM-8, AGM-11, AGM-22 were Type VC2 Victory ships</ref> 4 AGS,<ref group=A>The Bowditch-class and AGS-37 were Type VC2 Victory ships</ref> 2 AGTR, 2 AKV
2 LSMs: 1 AG,<ref group=A>E-AG-398 was an LSM</ref> 1 ARC

Modern auxiliaries have been designed to reduce operating costs by introducing scales of economies with larger ships and by reducing manning requirements (a trend begun in 1949 with the introduction of manning non-commissioned ships with civilian crews under the Military Sealift Command and its predecessors - such ships carry the 'T-' prefix on their hull symbols and the USNS prefix rather than USS; ships with MV or SS prefixes are under long-term charter with the Navy rather than under Navy ownership).

Crane ships (AB)

USS Kearsarge (AB-1), ex-BB-5

Colliers (AC)

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USS Hannibal (1898), later AG-1
USS Justin (1898)
USS Leonidas (1898)
USS Marcellus (1879)
USS Merrimac (1898)
USS Quincy (1918)
USS Saturn (1898), later AG-4
USS Southery (1898)
USS Sterling (1898)
USS Vestal (AC-1), later AR-4
USS Ontario (AC-2), later AR-3
USS Jupiter (AC-3), later CV-1 as Langley, AV-3
USS Cyclops (AC-4), lost March 1918, 306 killed
USS Vulcan (AC-5)
USS Mars (AC-6)
USS Hector (AC-7)
USS Neptune (AC-8)
USS Proteus (AC-9)
USS Nereus (AC-10)
USS Orion (AC-11)
USS Jason (AC-12), later AV-2
USS Abarenda (AC-13), later AG-14
USS Ajax (AC-14), later AG-15
USS Brutus (AC-15)
USS Caesar (AC-16)
USS Nero (AC-17)

List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy

Historical overview

World War I

Pre-World War II

World War II

Post World War II

Crane ships (AB)

Colliers (AC)

Auxiliary minelayers (ACM)

Auxiliary crane ships (T-ACS)

Auxiliary aircraft carriers (ACV)

Destroyer tenders (AD)

Degaussing ships (ADG)

Ammunition ships (AE)

Auxiliary floating drydock

Large auxiliary repair docks (ABSD)

Large auxiliary floating dry docks (AFDB)

Small auxiliary floating dry docks (AFDL)

Medium auxiliary floating dry docks (AFDM)

Auxiliary repair docks (ARD)

Medium auxiliary repair docks (ARDM)

Yard floating drydocks (YFD)

Provisions store ships (AF, T-AF)

Combat stores ships (AFS, T-AFS)

Miscellaneous ships (AG, T-AG)

Icebreakers (AGB)

Amphibious force command ships (AGC)

Deep submergence support ship (T-AGDS)

Hydrofoil research ship (AGEH)

Environmental research ships (AGER)

Command ships (AGF)

Missile range instrumentation ships (T-AGM)

Major communications relay ships (AGMR)

Oceanographic research ships (T-AGOR)

Ocean surveillance ships (T-AGOS)

Motor torpedo boat tenders (AGP)

Radar picket ships (AGR)

Surveying ships (AGS)

Coastal survey ships (AGSC)

Submarine and special warfare support vessel (T-AGSE)

Auxiliary submarines (AGSS)

Technical research ships (AGTR)

Hospital ships (AH)

Dry cargo ships (AK, T-AK)

Attack cargo ships (AKA)

Cargo ship dock (T-AKD)

Advanced auxiliary dry cargo ships (T-AKE)

Small cargo ships (AKL)

Net cargo ships (AKN)

Vehicle cargo ships (T-AKR)

General stores issue ships (AKS)

Technical stores issue ships (AKST)

Aircraft transports (AKV, T-AKV)

Auxiliary minesweepers

Minesweepers (AM)

Auxiliary Base Minesweepers (AMb)

Coastal Minesweepers (AMc)

Coastal Minesweepers (Underwater Locator) (AMCU)

Ocean Minesweepers (AMS)

Net laying ships (AN)

Net layer (ANL)

Fleet oilers (AO, T-AO)

Fast combat support ships (AOE, T-AOE)

Gasoline tankers (AOG, T-AOG)

Light replenishment oilers (T-AOL)

Replenishment oilers (AOR)

Oiler submarines (AOSS)

Oil transporters (T-AOT)

Transports (AP, T-AP)

Attack transports (APA)

Self-propelled barracks ships (APB)

Coastal transports (APC)

Small coastal transports (APc)

High-speed transports (APD)

Evacuation transports (APH)

Barracks craft (APL)

Mechanized artillery transports (APM)

Convoy rescue craft (APR)

Transport submarines (APS, APSS)

Transport and aircraft ferries (APV)