What does "RMS" and "USS" stand for on ships?

Question

i see alot of ships with "RMS" and "USS" attached to the front. like RMS Titanic or USS Maine. What do they stand for and why do ships have them attached to their names?

Answer 1

USS- United States Ship      (U.S)

RMS- Royal Majesty's ship   (England)

Answer 2

RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship or Royal Mail Steamer (the use has changed somewhat over time as steam power was replaced).  Ships are only supposed to use the RMS designation when they are under contract to the Royal Mail in the UK to carry mail on behalf of the British government, and have the right to fly the pennant of the Rotal Mail while doing so.  Because there were usually penalties for late delivery of the mail, ships with the RMS deignation had a reputation for being operated on a very punctual basis, which was an advanyage to the passengers.

The USS designation stands for United States Ship, and is used specifically for ships with active commissions in the US Navy.

There are other less official designations you may also see before ship names, such as MS for Motor Ship, or MY for Motor Yacht.  These designate the type of ship and not any specific function.

Answer 3

you forgot SS which mean steam ship as in SS Columbia

which was an old merchant steam ship.

from a merchant mariner

Answer 4

RMS is Royal Mail Steamer or Ship

USS i believe is United States Ship

I guess you put them on the front so you know what your talking about, just like "Mr Smith" or "Mrs Jones", someone who is tlaking about ships will know they are talking about a British or US ship. I guess they used to be more formal about these things.

Answer 5

Royal Mercenary Ship

United Sailing Ship

Answer 6

RMS - Royal Mail Ship

USS - United States Ship

Answer 7

yes its United states ship

and royal mail ship

there also used to be

HMS = His Majesty's ship

CSS = Confederate states ship

Answer 8

RMS - Royal Mail Steamship.

HMS - His (or Her) Majesty's Ship.

USS United States Ship.

USNS - United States Naval Ship (used on Naval auxiliaries in the Military Sealift Command).

SMS - Seiner Majestats Schiff (Used on German ships of the WWI era).

RNS - Royal Netherlands Ship.

HMAS - His (or Her) Majesty's Australian Ship.

HMCS - His (or Her) Majesty's Canadian Ship.

HMNZS - His (or Her) Majesty's New Zealand Ship.

In other words, these prefixes identify the ships country of origin at a glance.