If you’re a fan of maritime engineering, you’ve almost definitely noticed the prefix “SS” on an older, private vessel. It’s a little bit of flavoring that helps make a boat seem more prestigious and official. Of course, you can’t just put an abbreviation on something for no reason. It has to stand for something, or it’s nothing but unnecessary set dressing.
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The process of putting “SS” on ships has been around for hundreds of years, dating all the way back to the age of steam-powered vessels. As a result, the precise meaning of SS has become somewhat lost in translation, and a lot of boats don’t bother with it anymore. In its heyday, though, the SS abbreviation was actually a valuable means of identifying a ship’s capabilities and intent in the water at a casual glance. The practice of placing SS before a water vessel’s name dates all the way back to the age of steamships. In fact, that’s what SS originally stood for: “steamship.”
The meaning of SS has changed through the years
When the first steam engines arrived on the scene and started powering boats, maritime businesses like shipping companies couldn’t tell at a quick glance whether a passing boat was using a steam engine or more traditional means of propulsion. So, SS was added to the vessel’s name on the side to immediately notify onlookers that it was packing steam.
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Obviously, steam engines didn’t stick around forever, but the SS prefix actually managed to outlive them with a bit of clever restructuring. Once steam engines went out of style, SS started to stand for “single-screw ship,” referring to a vessel powered by a single screw or propeller. This is why you only see SS on small, civilian vessels — so everyone knows it’s not a beefed-up chaser of a boat. More broadly, “SS” has become a universal term indicating non-military vessels. If your boat has SS on it, you’re either a trading vessel, or just some random sailor out for fun.
There are various abbreviations for ship names, especially military ships
Building off the original intent of the SS prefix, many different vessels all over the world have employed similar abbreviations in front of their names to communicate intent. Military vessels are a good example of this; vessels in the employ of the United States Navy, such as massive aircraft carriers, will usually have USS in front of their names, short for “United States Ship.” The British Royal Navy, meanwhile, places HMS in front of its distinctive two-island vessels, short for “His/Her Majesty’s Ship.”
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Some vessels also follow the SS prefix’s original purpose of showing what’s powering them. A vessel powered by a nuclear power plant, for instance, may have NS in its name, or “Nuclear Ship,” while a gas turbine ship may have GTS in its name. Similarly, other vessels’ prefixes may serve to showcase the purpose of their presence. If a ship were working to lay large cables on the ocean floor, it may have CS in its name for “cable ship.” If it’s currently engaged in scientific research, it could have RV for “research vessel” in its name.
Boating prefixes aren’t strictly necessary anymore, but they still serve their job of convenient shorthand well.
