Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!gatech!amdcad!military
From: clayj@microsoft.UUCP (Clay Jackson)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Navy vessel identification questions
Message-ID: <27345@amdcad.AMD.COM>
Date: 19 Sep 89 06:40:55 GMT
References: <27297@amdcad.AMD.COM>
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In article <27297@amdcad.AMD.COM> ehr@uncecs.edu (Ernest H. Robl) writes:
>Question:  The trip to the Norfolk area raised a number of questions
>as to how Navy vessels are designated and/or numbered.  I noticed 
>that on the hull the Preserver -- the rescue/salvage vessel open 
>for tours -- was designated as "RS 8."  (The RS was in small letters;
>the number 8 much larger.)  On the gangplank, however, a canvas
>banner gave the name of the ship and showed the designation as
>"ARS 8."  Why the difference?  What if anything does the "A" mean?

The "A" means "Auxillary", as opposed to a "normal" ship, which is expected 
to be capable of fighting.  It's quite often dropped.

The "RS" in this case stands for "Rescue - Submarine" (I'm not 100% sure
of the "S", it might be "Salvage".

>Also, later at the Navy base, I noticed that some ships had numbers
>painted on the bow, some didn't.

The ships in active service should have numbers on the bow, unless they're
just back/going someplace "in harm's way", in which case they're often
painted out (I don't remember the rules about when they can/should be,
but I KNOW that the numbers on submarines are ALWAYS painted out when the
submarine is on patrol.  The "S36" was a submarine tender (supply and repair
ship).  I don't my reference books here at work, so I can't look up
the name. 

What you might have seen, particularly if you saw a large number of ships
all "nested" together; was the "Reserve Fleet", which consists of ships
that have been "mothballed" (taken out of commission and stored, in case
of conflict, or change in national policy, ala the Missouri and the Iowa).

Clay Jackson