U.S. Navy > Catalogs > Ship classes
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Active and planned
Aircraft carrier
- USS Enterprise (CVN-65) [r]: First nuclear-propelled aircraft carrier of the United States Navy [e]
- Nimitz-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
- CVN-21-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
Cruiser
- Ticonderoga-class [r]: Modern U.S. Navy cruisers usually serving as carrier or amphibious escorts, but capable of independent action including long-range strike, anti-air/anti-ballistic missile/anti-satellite warfare, naval gunfire support, and antisubmarine warfare. [e]
Destroyer
- Burke-class [r]: Large U.S. Navy multirole destroyers equipped with AEGIS battle management system and constant upgrades; Japan has Kongo-class clones, also being upgraded to ballistic missile defense; South Korea has the KDK-class [e]
- Zumwalt-class [r]: An experimental class of U.S. destroyers, production of which has been capped, optimized for land attack, stealth, and small crew size [e]
Ocean Escort
- Oliver Hazard Perry-class [r]: Limited-capability ocean escorts in the U.S. and other navies, designated "frigates" [e]
Submarine
- Los Angeles-class [r]: The primary class of attack submarines in the United States Navy, built in three groups of which early models are being retired; to be replaced by the Virginia-class [e]
- Seawolf-class [r]: A class of advanced attack submarines of the United States Navy, optimized for Cold War requirements as a replacement for the Los Angeles-class; production capped and replacement shifted to the Virginia-class [e]
- Virginia-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Ohio-class [r]: The sole operational class of U.S. ballistic missile submarines, firing the Trident D5; some have been converted for special operations and cruise missile launch [e]
Amphibious warfare
- San Antonio-class [r]: Used in amphibious warfare, a class of Landing Platform Dock ships of the United States Navy, with some in commission and some under construction [e]
- Wasp-class [r]: The largest amphibious warfare ships in the U.S. Navy, which carry a Marine Expeditionary Unit and supporting aircraft [e]
Littoral and special
- Littoral Combat Ship [r]: A light, relatively low-cost U.S. Navy warship type, capable of ocean crossings but optimized for coastal operations [e]
Historic
Aircraft carriers
- USS Langley (CV-1) [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Lexington-class [r]: A two-ship class of aircraft carriers, the first built by the U.S. Navy for operations rather than experimentation; converted from cancelled battlecruiser hulls [e]
- Yorktown-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Essex-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Forrestal-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
Battleships
- Montana-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Iowa-class [r]: The last class of battleships deployed by any navy; these were U.S. Navy vessels launched during WWII and played a role in anti-air warfare and naval gunfire support; later conversions kept them in use as missile-launching platforms; all 4 retired [e]
- South Dakota-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
Cruisers
Destroyers
First World War
- Clemson-class [r]: A post-First World War "four stack" U.S. destroyer class, of 1,190 tons/1,308 tons full load displacement, armed with 4x4" guns and 1 3" guns plus torpedoes; USS Reuben James (DD-245) was of the class [e]
- Wickes-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Caldwell-class [r]: Add brief definition or description
Interwar & Second World War
- Farragut-class [r]: A 1931 U.S. Navy destroyer type, which was the first to move away from the First World War "flush deck" design; they were the oldest destroyer type in general U.S. use in the Second World War, the "flush deckers" having been converted to auxiliaries or transferred to Britain [e]
- Gridley-class [r]: A two-ship U.S. Navy destroyer class, built during the 1930s to experiment with a new high-speed power plant [e]
- Bagley-class [r]: U.S. Navy destroyers of a 1935 design, slightly slower than the two-ship Gridley-class, with the same powerplant and weapons as the Mahan-class [e]
- Benson-Gleaves-class [r]: Two closely associated classes of U.S. Navy destroyer, built between 1938 and 1940, which were somewhat undergunned compared with the Fletcher and especially Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers, but did workhorse duty during the war [e]
- Mahan-class [r]: A U.S. Navy destroyer design, which served in the Second World War, based on the Sims-class but rearranged to provide more space for torpedo tubes, and featuring a turbine power plant much advanced of the precedessor Sims-class [e]
- Sims-class [r]: Designed in 1937, the last class of U.S. Navy destroyer built before the Second World War; the last with a single fireroom and single stack, which represented a single point of failure [e]
- Benham-class [r]: U.S. Navy destroyers of the general layout of the Gridley-class, but with a higher pressure power plant, thus needing one less stack than the Bagley-class; in wartime, traded torpedo tubes for more antiaircraft and antisubmarine armament [e]
- Porter-class [r]: A class of U.S. Navy destroyer leaders of which the first was built in 1936, slightly heavier in armament and displacement (1850 tons) than a conventional 1500-ton destroyer but smaller than a light cruiser; an enlarged Farragut-class [e]
- Somers-class [r]: A class of U.S. Navy destroyer leaders, with a more advanced power plant than the Porter-class but with a similar mission: slightly heavier in armament and displacement (1850 tons) than a conventional 1500-ton destroyer but smaller than a light cruiser [e]
- Fletcher-class [r]: A U.S.-designed destroyer of Second World War vintage, armed with 5"-38 caliber guns and anti-aircraft autocannon, torpedoes, and depth charges. More were built than any other type; some served into the 21st century with other navies [e]
- Allen M. Sumner-class [r]: A development of the U.S. Navy Fletcher-class destroyer of the Second World War, which took advantage of the newly available dual 5"-38 caliber gun mount for more concentrated firepower [e]
- Gearing-class [r]: An evolution of the WWII U.S. Navy Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers, lengthening the hull to provide more fuel storage and thus endurance, and improved masts for more radar antennas [e]
Cold War
- Adams-class [r]: Multirole U.S. designed destroyers, retired from the U.S. Navy in the 1990s and retired from the Royal Australian Navy in 2001; replaced by the Burke-class [e]
- Spruance-class destroyer [r]: A retired class of U.S. Navy destroyers, built on the same hull as the Burke-class but optimized for land attack and anti-submarine warfare, without the AEGIS battle management system [e]
