United States Armed Forces Abbreviations

Each U.S. Navy (USN) aircraft was assigned a unique designation that identified it’s intended purpose, model, series and possible special modifications. This document identifies the coding system, which was introduced on 10 March 1923, used during the period 1939 to 1945. This coding system remained in effect until 18 September 1962 when it was changed to the tri-service system based on the system used by the U.S. Air Force.

The USN aircraft designation system consists of a minimum of three and a maximum of six parts. As an example, consider the Grumman XF6F-3N Hellcat. The six parts of the designation are indicated by the number in parenthesis shown below:

X	F	6	F	-3	N
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)

The six parts are defined as:
   (1) Status prefix (Optional),
   (2) Type or Class (Required),
   (3) Manufacturer type sequence (Optional),
   (4) Manufacturer (Required),
   (5) Aircraft configuration sequence (Required),
   (6) Special purpose suffix (Optional).

Each of the six items are described in detail below in a paragraph numbered 1 through 6 corresponding to the paragraph numbers above.

1. Status Prefix (Optional)

The status prefix was introduced in 1927 to indicate experimental or prototype aircraft and the letter X, indicating an experimental aircraft, was the only letter used through World War II.

In our example, the XF6F-3N, the Status Prefix of X indicates that this is an F6F-3 that has been modified as a prototype.

2. Type or Class (Required)

The type or class symbol consists of one or two alpha-characters that identifies the basic mission for which the aircraft was designed. Originally, only single letters were used by in March 1934, two-letter codes were introduced.

Considering our example, the XF6F-3N, the Type or Class symbol is the first F indicating that this aircraft was designed as a fighter.

The codes that were used through World War II and an example of the type aircraft are listed in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1
Type or Class Codes

CODE

DESCRIPTION

AIRCRAFT

Ambulance (1943-1946)

Piper AE-1 Cub

Bomber (1931-1946)

Douglas BD-1 Havoc

Bomber Torpedo (1942-1946)

Douglas BT2D-1 Destroyer II

Fighter (1922-1962)

Goodyear FG-1E Corsair

Transport, single-engine (1939-1946)

Beech GB-1 Traveller

Hospital (1929-1943; to A in 1943)

Piper HE-1 Cub

Helicopter, Utility (1944-1949)

Sikorsky XHJS-1

Helicopter, Training (1944-1948)

Sikorsky HNS-1 Hoverfly

Helicopter, Observation (1944-1962)

Sikorsky HOS-1 Hoverfly

Helicopter, Transport (1944-1962)

Sikorsky HRS-1

General Utility (1931-1946)

Grumman JF-1 Duck

Utility Transport (1935-1946)

Beech JRB-3 Expeditor

Glider, Bomb-Carrying (1941-1945)

Piper LBP-1

Glider, Training (1941-1945)

Pratt-Reid LNE-1

Glider, Transport (1941-1945)

Waco LRW-1 Haig

Trainer (1922-1946)

Stearman N2S-4 Kaydet

Observation (1922-1962)

Stinson OY-1 Sentinel

Observation Scout (1935-1945)

Chance Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher

Patrol (1922-1962)

Lockheed PV-2C Ventura

Patrol Bomber (1935-1946)

Martin PBM-3D Mariner

Transport (1931-1962)

Douglas R4D-5 Skytrain

Scout (1922-1946)

Curtiss SC-2 Seahawk

Scout Bomber (1934-1946)

Chance Vought SB2U-3 Vindicator

Scout Trainer (1939-1946)

North American SNJ-3C Texan

Scout Observation (1934-1946)

Curtiss SOC-3A Seagull

Torpedo Bomber (1936-1946)

Grumman TBF-1C Avenger

Target Drone (1942-1946)

Culver TDC-1 Cadet

Torpedo Scout (1943)

Grumman TSF-1

3. Manufacturer Type Sequence (Optional)

The manufacturer type sequence is a numeric character that identifies the procurement sequence of an aircraft within a type or class purchased from the same manufacturer, e.g., the first fighter the USN purchased from Grumman was the FF, the second fighter was the F2F, the third was the F3F, the fourth the F4F, etc. The number indicates the sequence of fighters not of all the aircraft purchased from Grumman. For example, when the USN ordered the Avenger torpedo bomber from Grumman, it was designated TBF because this was the first torpedo bomber acquired from the company.

The numeric is only required on the second and subsequent aircraft within a type or class purchased from the same manufacturer; the numeric 1 is implied for the first aircraft, e.g., Consolidated PBY Catalina, Martin PBM Mariner, etc.

In our example, the XF6F-3N, the Manufacturer Type Sequence Code is 6 indicating that the F6F was the sixth fighter type acquired from the manufacturer by the USN.

4. Manufacturer (Required)

The manufacturer of the aircraft was indicated by a one-alpha character code. This presented problems because there were only 26 available letters and the USN purchased aircraft from more than 26 companies therefore, the same letter may apply to multiple manufacturers.

One of the unique aircraft manufacturers was the Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) located in the U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During World War I, most of the aviation manufacturers in the U.S. were busy building aircraft for the U.S. Army so the USN decided to build it’s own aircraft. Construction of the NAF was authorized on 27 July 1917 and ground was broken on 10 August. An airfield was built at the east end of the Navy Yard and the first aircraft built at NAF, a Curtiss-designed H-16, made it’s first flight on 27 August 1918. During World War I, the NAF built 150 H-16's and 33 Curtiss-designed F-5L’s.

After the war, Congress and the aircraft manufacturing industry wanted to close the NAF however, the Navy prevailed and kept it open by agreeing to spend half it’s time on research, development and testing for Naval aviation and the other half in building Naval aircraft. In the mid-1930's, the Navy decreed that the NAF would build 10% of all Naval aircraft purchased. The quantities and complexities of the aircraft needed in World War II could not be accommodated by the NAF and during the war, it built less than 1,500 aircraft as indicated below:

817 N3N-1 and -3 primary trainers,
300 OS2N-1's, a version of the Chance Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher,
156 PBN’s, a version of the Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina,
100 TDN-1 radio-controlled assault drones,
44 SON-1's, a version of the Curtiss SOC-3 Seagull,
30 SBN-1's, a version of the Brewster XSBA-1.

In our example, the XF6F-3N, the Manufacturer Code is an F indicating that this aircraft was manufactured by The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. of Bethpage, Long Island, New York Note that this is not necessarily the location of the specific plant where the aircraft was built but rather, the address of company headquarters.

The Manufacturers Codes used during World War II are listed in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2
Manufacturers Codes

CODE

MANUFACTURER

Allied Aviation Corp., Cockeysville, Maryland (1941-1943)

Brewster Aeronautical Corp., Long Island City, Queens, New York (1935-1943)

Beech Aircraft Corp., Wichita, Kansas (1937-1962)

The Boeing Airplane Co., Seattle, Washington (1923-1962)

Boeing Aircraft of Canada, Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (1941-1945)

Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1942-1944)

The Cessna Aircraft Co., Inc., Wichita, Kansas (1943-1951)

Culver Aircraft Corp., Wichita, Kansas (1943-1946)

The Curtiss-Wright Corp., Airplane Division, New York, New York (1922-1946)

The Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc., Santa Monica, California (1922-1962)

Frankfort Sailplane Co., Joliet, Illinois (1945-1946)

McDonnell Aircraft Corp., St. Louis, Missouri (1942-1946)

The Radioplane Co., Van Nuys, California (1943-1948)

Bellanca Aircraft Corp., New Castle, Delaware (1931-1937)

Edo Aircraft Corp., College Point, Long Island, New York (1943-1946)

Gould Aeronautical Corp. (1942-1945)

The Piper Aircraft Corp., Lockhaven, Pennsylvania (1941-1945)

Pratt-Read & Co., Eddystone, Pennsylvania (1942-1945)

Columbia Aircraft Corp., Valley Stream, Long Island, New York (1943-1944)

Fairchild Aircraft Ltd., Longueuil, Quebec, Canada (1942-1945)

The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., Bethpage, Long Island, New York (1931-1962)

A.G.A. Aviation Corp. (1942)

The Goodyear Aircraft Corp., Akron, Ohio (1942-1962)

Great Lakes Aircraft Corp., Cleveland, Ohio (1929-1935)

Hall Aluminum Aircraft Corp., Bristol, Pennsylvania (1928-1940)

Howard Aircraft Corp., St. Charles, Illinois (1941-1944)

Snead and Co. (1942)

North American Aviation Corp., Inglewood, California (1937-1962)

The Fairchild Aircraft Division of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp., New York, New York (1937-1942)

Fleetwings Division of Kaiser Cargo, Inc., Bristol, Pennsylvania (1943-1945)

Nash-Kelvinator Corp., Detroit, Michigan (1942)

Andover Kent Aviation Corp., New Brunswick, New Jersey (1942-1943)

Bell Aircraft Corp., Buffalo, New York (1939-1962)

Columbia Aircraft Corp., Valley Stream, Long Island, New York (1945)

Eastern Aircraft Division, General Motors, Corp., Linden, New Jersey (1942-1945)

The Glenn L. Martin Co., Baltimore, Maryland (1922-1962)

The Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1922-1945)

Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Burbank, California (1931-1950)

The Piper Aircraft Corp., Lockhaven, Pennsylvania (1942-1943)

P-V Engineering Forum, Inc., Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania (1944-1945)

The Spartan Aircraft Co., Tulsa, Oklahoma (1940-1941)

Bristol Aeronautical Corp. (1941-1943)

The Fairchild Aircraft Division of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp., New York, New York (1937-1962)

The Aeronca Aircraft Corp., Middletown, Ohio (1942-1946)

American Aviation Corp. (1942)

Brunswick-Balke-Collender Corp. (1942-1943)

Interstate Aircraft & Engineering Corp., El Segundo, California (1942-1962)

Maxson-Brewster Corp. (1939-1940)

The Ryan Aeronautical Co., San Diego, California (1941-1946)

Schweizer Aircraft Corp., Elmira, New York (1941)

Sikorsky Aviation Division, United Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut (1929-1939)

Vought-Sikorsky Aviation Division, United Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut (1939-1943)

Sikorsky Aviation Division, United Aircraft Corp., Bridgeport, Connecticut (1943-1962)

Strearman Aircraft Division, Boeing Aircraft Corp., Wichita, Kansas (1934-1945)

Vickers-Armstrong, Ltd., Southampton, England (1943)

Taylorcraft Aviation Corp., Alliance, Ohio (1942)

Northrop Aircraft Inc., Hawthorne, California (1944-1962)

Timm Aircraft Corp., Van Nuys, California (1941-1943)

Chance Vought Corp., Hartford, Connecticut (1929-1935)

Chance Vought Aircraft Division, United Aircraft Manufacturing Corp., Hartford, Connecticut (1935-1936)

Chance Vought Aircraft Division, United Aircraft Corp., Hartford, Connecticut (1935-1939)

Vought-Sikorsky Division, United Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut (1939-1943)

Chance Vought Aircraft Division, United Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut (1943-1954)

Canadair, Ltd., Montreal, Quebec, Canada (1944-1945)

Canadian Vickers, Ltd., Montreal, Quebec, Canada (1942-1944)

The Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Burbank, California (1943-1962)

Vega Aircraft Corp., Burbank, California (1942-1943)

Vultee Aircraft Inc., Downey, California (1941)

Canadian Car & Foundry Co., Ltd., Montreal, Quebec, Canada (1942-1945)

The Waco Aircraft Co., Troy, Ohio (1934-1945)

The Consolidated Aircraft Corp., San Diego, California (1926-1943)

The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp., San Diego, California (1943-1962)

5. Aircraft Configuration Sequence (Required)

The Aircraft Configuration Sequence is a one-numeric character indicating the version of the aircraft. The first experimental version was normally assigned the number 1, e.g., XSB2C-1, and if this aircraft went into production, it was also assigned the number 1, e.g., SB2C-1. The number would be incremented by one for each subsequent version of the aircraft, e.g., SB2C-2, SB2C-3, etc.

Our example, the XF6F-3N, the Aircraft Configuration Sequence is 3 indicating that this was the third version of the F6F Hellcat; the production model, F6F-3N, also used the number 3.

6. Special Purpose Suffix (Optional)

The Special Purpose Suffix was a one- or two-alpha character code to indicate a special configuration of the basic aircraft. There was one exception to this rule involving the North American PBJ-1 Mitchell, the USN version of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) B-25. The Special Purpose Suffix for the PBJ-1 was the same letter as the USAAF Series Letter, i.e.:

   PBJ-1C was the B-25C,
   PBJ-1D was the B-25D,
   PBJ-1G was the B-25G
   PBJ-1H was the B-25H, and
   PBJ-1J was the B-25J.

Our example, the XF6F-3N, had been modified as a night fighter as indicated by the Special Purpose Suffix letter N.

The codes that were assigned during World War II and an example of a modified aircraft are listed in Table 3 below.

TABLE 3
Special Purpose Suffix

CODE

DEFINITION

EXAMPLE

Amphibious version

Martin PBM-5A Mariner

Armament on normally unarmed aircraft

Grumman J2F-2A

Arrester gear on non-carrier aircraft

Curtiss SOC-3A Seagull

Built for the USAAF

Douglas SBD-3A Dauntless

Miscellaneous modification

Grumman F4F-3A Wildcat

Nonfolding wings and no carrier equipment

Curtiss SB2C-1A Helldiver

Target towing and photography

Grumman JRF-1A

Amphibian for U.S. Coast Guard

Consolidated PBY-6AG Catalina

British version for Lend-Lease

Chance Vought F4U-4B Corsair

Special armament version

Consolidated PB4Y-2B

Arrester gear added

North American SNJ-3C Texan

British-American standardized version

Curtiss SO3C-2C Seamew

Cannon armed

Curtiss SB2C-1C Helldiver

Equipped with trimetrogen camera

Grumman TBF-1CP Avenger

Capable of carrying drop tanks

Goodyear FG-1D Corsair

Special search radar

Eastern Aircraft TBM-3D Avenger

Special electronic version

Grumman F6F-3E Hellcat

Converted to flagship

Douglas R5D-1F Skymaster

U.S. Coast Guard aircraft

Grumman JRF-5G Goose

Ambulance or medical evacuation

Beech SNB-2H Expeditor

Cold-weather equipment

Grumman TBF-1J Avenger

Searchlight equipped

Grumman TBF-1L Avenger

Night operating version

Chance Vought F4U-4N Corsair

Photographic reconnaissance

Grumman F4F-3P Wildcat

Passenger interior

Douglas R4D-5R Skytrain

Transport conversion

Martin XPB2M-1R Mars

Early warning

Eastern Aircraft TBM-3W Avenger