Ships and boats hold a special place in the human experience. Our ancestors marked this importance by giving thoughtful names to their watercraft just as we do today.1 In fact, we even have guidelines for how to write the names of ships and boats to set them apart from less adventurous modes of travel, like minivans.
We’ll begin by looking at the guidelines for writing ship and boat names without abbreviations and then with abbreviations.
We’ll conclude with a discussion on whether we should use gendered or gender-neutral pronouns for ships and boats.
Ship and Boat Names without Abbreviations
Ship and boat names that don’t start with abbreviations are capitalized and italicized in their entirety.2
Draken Harald Hårfagre is the world’s largest Viking ship currently sailing.
The criminals escaped on the stolen yacht, fatefully named Found Money.
Important Note: Those who follow The Associated Press Stylebook or the U.S. Navy Style Guide should see the Style Guide Alert at the bottom of this post for an alternative recommendation.
Ship and Boat Names with Abbreviations
Abbreviations before ship and boat names, such as USS (United States Ship), SS (steamship or sailing ship), or HMS (Her [or His] Majesty’s Ship), should not be italicized. However, the rest of the name should be capitalized and italicized.3
The freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior in 1975.
Nancy Reagan christened USS Ronald Reagan in 2001.
The Wikipedia article “Ship Prefixes” offers an extensive list of additional watercraft abbreviations from around the world.
Periods don’t appear between the abbreviated letters. See “How to Abbreviate United States” for information on abbreviating the country’s name in general writing.
Important Note: Those who follow the U.S. Navy Style Guide should see the Style Guide Alert at the bottom of this post for information on using the word the before ship and boat names.
Pronouns for Ships and Boats
Historically, ships and boats have been referred to with female pronouns.4 This writing style has fallen out of favor and, today, the gender-neutral pronoun it is recommended for all watercraft.5
Despite this update, I encourage historical authors to research pronoun usage in the time period they are writing about because historically accurate pronouns in dialog can create and maintain authenticity.
Style Guide Alert
The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) doesn’t recommend italicizing any words, including the names of boats or ships.6
The U.S. Navy Style Guide, which follows most AP style recommendations, doesn’t recommend italicizing the names of ships or boats, either.7 Government writers and editors should note that this conflicts with the U.S. Government Publishing Office Manual, which does recommend italics.8
In addition, the U.S. Navy Style Guide says that the word the shouldn’t be used directly before abbreviations such as USS or HMS.9
Further Reading: When Should You Capitalize Oceans, Mountains, Lakes, and Other Geographic Features?
References
1. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “History of Ships,” https://www.britannica.com/technology/ship/History-of-ships.
2. The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), 8.116; “How do I format the name of a ship in MLA style?” Ask the MLA, The MLA Style Center, https://style.mla.org/format-the-name-of-a-ship/.
3. The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), 8.116; “How do I format the name of a ship in MLA style?” Ask the MLA, The MLA Style Center, https://style.mla.org/format-the-name-of-a-ship/.
4. The Gregg Reference Manual, 11th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011), 326.
5. The Associated Press Stylebook 2020–2022 (New York: Associated Press, 2020), 37; The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), 8.116; “How do I format the name of a ship in MLA style?” Ask the MLA, The MLA Style Center, https://style.mla.org/format-the-name-of-a-ship/.
6. The Associated Press Stylebook 2020–2022 (New York: Associated Press, 2020), 37, 161.
7. U.S. Navy Style Guide, s.v. “ship names,” accessed November 14, 2018, https://www.navy.mil/submit/navyStyleGuide.pdf.
8. U.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2016), 11.6. https://www.govinfo.gov/gpo-style-manual.
9. U.S. Navy Style Guide, s.v. “ship names,” https://www.navy.mil/submit/navyStyleGuide.pdf.
When no italics are available (like on Facebook), should I use quotation marks to indicate the name of a ship?
Hi, Don. That’s a great question. Unfortunately, I don’t have a great answer because we don’t have an official style guide for social media posts…yet. If italics aren’t available, I would just capitalize the name of a ship like other proper nouns. Thank you for reading my blog!
So a ship named “The Shapely Sprite” wouldn’t have “The” capitalized/italicized in its name?
I would lowercase “the” in that example. Thank you for stopping by my blog!
In a biography about the time period prior to a ship getting the designation of USS (and carrying that for the rest of the ship’s life), should I put the “USS” before the name of the ship or not? Thanks for any help you can give on this — I want it to be right!
Hi, Karen.
Thank you for reading my post! I’m not aware of an official answer to your question. If the ship is only mentioned in the biography prior to receiving the USS designation, I would, personally, just use the name as it was at the time and include a footnote or endnote explaining the future name. If the ship is mentioned in the biography before and after the USS designation, I would include an explanation in the text when the ship gains the designation (e.g., “Shark, since renamed USS Shark, ….)
But again, this isn’t an official answer; it’s just what I would do. If I do happen to run across an official answer, I will update this post.