Recognition: Field Manual, FM 21-80 - Recognition Training - Appendix

AIRCRAFT, ARMORED VEHICLE, AND NAVAL VESSEL NAMES AND DESIGNATION SYSTEMS

Section I. AIRCRAFT

1. UNITED STATES. For a detailed explanation of United States Army and Navy systems of aircraft designation, see page 9, FM 30-30.

2. GREAT BRITAIN. a. The British do not use a system of code designation for their aircraft, but instead, use names. Names of fighter planes usually suggest power and destructiveness, while those of other types can not be precisely classified. The names of many airplanes, of all types, alliterate with the name of the manufacturer. For example

(I) Supermarine "Spitfire"—fighter.

(2) Hawker "Hurricane"—fighter.

(3) Handley Page "Halifax"—bomber.

(4) Short Bros. "Stirling"—bomber.

b. Modifications of each type are indicated by a roman numeral following the name. The British at times refer to these as "Mark" (model) numbers, as "Spitfire Mk. (mark) V." These modifications may or may not affect the appearance of the plane. For example

(r) "Spitfire IX"—ninth modification of the Spitfire, involving principally an engine change.

(2) "Halifax II"—second modification of the Halifax, involving structural changes which materially alter the appearance.

c. In addition, the name may be adapted or altered to indicate versions especially equipped for tropical duty, or service on aircraft carriers. For example

(i) "Tropical Hurricane."

(2) "Seafire."

d. Armament changes or other slight modifications indicating different missions are denoted by a small letter following the "mark" number. Since such changes are usually unimportant from the recognition point of view they should be ignored or mentioned only as a point of interest except in the rare cases in which appearance is affected. For example

(r) "Spitfire Va"—clipped wing "Spitfire."

(2) "Hurricane IId"—"Tank buster" mounting two 40-mm guns.

3. UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS. a. Soviet aircraft are produced by state factories. Aircraft are usually not named, but are designated by a code system consisting of a combination of numbers and abbreviations of the designers' names. The numbers indicate the sequence of the products of each designer. For example

(1) PE-2—second aircraft designed by Petlyakov.

(2) IL-2—second aircraft designed by Iliuchin.

(3) YAK-1—first design of Yakovlev.

b. Modifications are indicated by a capital letter following the designation. For example, PE-2B.

c. Some Soviet aircraft have acquired unofficial popular names. For example

(i) IL-2—"Stormovik."

(2) I-16—"Rata."

4. GERMANY. a. The Germans do not name their aircraft, but instead use a system of co. designations which consist of a combination of an abbreviation of the manufacturer's name and a number. For example

(1) Me 109 (Messerschmidt).

(2) Ju 88 (Junkers).

b. No two airplanes, even of different manufacture, bear the same number. Apparently each manufacturer is assigned a block of last two digits. Thus Junkers apparently have the block from 85 to 90, since they have produced the Ju 86, Ju 87, Ju 88, Ju 188, Ju 89, Ju 90, and the Ju 290. For any one manufacturer, the model numbers indicate the order in which the designs appeared. For example, the Me 110 is a later design than the original Me 109.

c. When the manufacturer's name is a composite one, the first letters of both names are used. For example

(1) Fw 190—(Focke-Wulf).

(2) Bv 138—(Blom and Voss).

d. When more than one name begins with the same two letters, obvious alternatives are used. For example

(i) He 111 (Heinkel).

(2) Hs 129 (Henschel).

e. Extensive modifications representing structural changes or changes in basic design are usually indicated by a jump of 100 in the numerical portion of the designation, or in some cases, a jump of 200. For example

(r) Ju 88—Ju 188.

(2) Me 110—Me 210—Me 410.

f. Changes not affecting the basic design or airframe are indicated by a capital letter following the designation. For example-

(1) Me 109G.

(2) Fw 19oA.

g. The letter "K" (Krieg) following the type number indicates that the aircraft is a military adaptation of a civil plane. For example

(1) Fw 200—civil transport.

(2) Fa 200K—bomber.

h. The above system may occasionally appear inconsistent from a recognition point of view. Sometimes extensive changes may not alter the appearance of a plane. For example, the Me 410 does not differ noticeably in appearance from the Me 210. On the other hand, relatively slight modifications may alter the appearance considerably. The Me 109F differs markedly from the Me 109E.

i. Various versions of certain multiple purpose types may also be indicated by a capital letter. For example

(1) Ju 88A—horizontal dive bomber.

(2) Ju 88C—escort and night fighter.

(3) Ju 88D—reconnaissance.

(4) Fw 190—fighter.

(5) Fw 190A—fighter-bomber.

5. JAPAN. a. The Japanese designate their aircraft by using arm, manufacturer, type, and year of design, using the last two digits of the Japanese calendar, in which the year 2600 corresponds to our year 1940. For example

Mitsubishi '00 Army Type Single Seat Fighter ("Zero").

b. Since even this inexact translation of the Japanese system is too involved and difficult to remember, a system of code names for Japanese aircraft has been adopted. Fighters and reconnaissance planes are assigned masculine names, and bombers an torpedo planes are assigned feminine names. For example-

(1) "Zeke"—Mitsubishi Type '00 Fighter.

(2) "Jake"—Aichi Type '00 Reconnaissance Plane

(3) "Betty"—Mitsubishi Type '01 Medium Bomber.

(4) "Val"—Aichi Type '99 Dive Bomber.

Section II. ARMORED VEHICLES

6. UNITED STATES. a. The official ordnance designation of United States armored vehicles consists of type and model number. These designations will be used in recognition instruction. Subsequent modifications of a basic design are indicated by a letter and a number. Modifications which have little effect on recognition usually can be ignored in recognition instruction.

For example

(1) Light tank M5.

(2) Light tank M5A1 (first modification).

(3) 105-mm howitzer motor carriage M7.

b. The British have given proper names to most United States armored equipment they have used. For example

(1) Medium tank M4—"Sherman."

(2) Light tank M5—"Honey."

7. BRITISH. a. British armored vehicles are designated by popular names and "mark" numbers which indicate modifications. There is no reference, in the official designations, to type.

(1) "Churchill" Mk. III (heavy tank).

(2) "Humber" Mk. II (armored car).

b. There is no pattern in selecting names, except in the case of self-propelled artillery. When the British adopted the United States 105-mm howitzer motor carriage, M7, they named it the "Priest." Self-propelled artillery weapons which they themselves developed subsequently were also given clerical names. For example-

(1) "Bishop" (25-pounder on Valentine chassis).

(2) "Sexton" (17-pounder on M4 chassis).

8. UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS. Soviet armored vehicles are designated by type and model. For example

a. Medium tank T-34.

b. Heavy tank K.V. 2.

9. GERMAN. a. German armored vehicles are designated by type and a model number. The types are broad. For example, "PzKw" is the type designation for all tanks, and "SdKfz" for all armored cars. Some late models of German armored equipment have been given popular names in addition. Examples of both follow:

(1) PzKw IV (medium tank).

(2) PzKw VI (heavy tank), "Tiger."

(3) SdKfz 231 (eight-wheeled armored car).

b. "PzKw" is an abbreviation of the word "Panzerkampfwagen," which translated freely means "armored fighting vehicle" or, simply, "tank." "SdKfz" is an abbreviation of the words "Sonder Kraftfahrzeug," or "special motor vehicle."

10. JAPAN. Japanese armored vehicles are designated by type and the year of design. The Jap light armored car 2597, for ex-ample, was designed in the Japanese year 2597, which corresponds to our year 1937. Examples

a. Light Tank 2595 (1935)

b. Medium Tank 2597 (1937)

Section III. NAVAL VESSELS

11. UNITED STATES. a. Each United States naval vessel is classified according to type. For a complete listing of these code designations, see FM 30-50.

b.. Within a type, vessels of the same basic design are identified with the first vessel of that design completed. For example-

(i) "North Carolina" class of battleships.

(2) "Portland" class of heavy cruisers.

(3) "Farragut" class of destroyers.

c. Within a class, principal types and some minor types are individually named. The name follows the letters U.S.S. (United States Ship). Usually, battleships are named for states, cruisers for large cities, aircraft carriers for places (cities or other places) with some historical association (exceptions, U.S.S. Hornet and U.S.S. Wasp), destroyers after naval heroes, and sub-marines after fish. For example

(r) "Pennsylvania" (battleship).

(2) "Portland" (heavy cruiser).

(3) "Shangri La" (aircraft carrier).

(4) "Porpoise" (submarine).

d. Minor types are usually designated by a combination of the type symbol and a number. For example

(1) DE-51 (destroyer escort number 51).

(2) PT-106 (motor torpedo boat number 106).

(3) LST-582 (landing ship-tank number 582).

12. GREAT BRITAIN. a. British naval vessels are classified according to type, but there are no code designations for major vessels.

b. Vessels of each type are identified according to class. Vessels of the same basic design are identified with the first vessel of that design completed. For example

(1) "King George V" class (battleships).

(2) "Kent" class (heavy cruisers).

(3) "Illustrious" class (aircraft carriers).

(4) "Beagle" class (destroyers) (originally included "Beagle," "Boadicea," "Boreas," "Brillient," and "Bulldog").

c. Principal combat vessels and some minor vessels are named individually. The name is formally preceded by the letters "H.M.S." (His Majesty's Ship). Battleships usually carry the names of famous ships retired or sunk in earlier periods. Most aircraft carriers have descriptive names. Heavy cruisers are named for cities or counties, and light cruisers usually for cities or for characters of mythology. Names of destroyers of a given class generally begin with the same letter, or succeeding letters of the alphabet. Names of submarines of the same class, with few exceptions, begin with the same letter. For example

(i) "Lion" (battleship). Named for an earlier battleship which fought at Jutland.

(2) "Illustrious," "Furious," "Victorious" (carriers).

(3) "London," "Norfolk" (heavy cruisers).

(4) "Coventry," "Achilles" (light cruisers).

(5) "Laforey," "Lance," "Lively," "Matchless," "Meteor," "Marne" (destroyers of the "Lightning" class).

(6) "Pandora," "Proteus" ("Parthian" class submarines).

d. The systems suggested above are not as much rules as practices, and are applied very flexibly.

e. Minor types are designated by letters and numbers in a manner similar to that employed by the United States Navy.

13. ITALY. Italian vessels appear to follow the conventional system of identification by type, class, and name. Battleships are named for statesmen, cruisers for other important persons; destroyers are given descriptive names. For example

a. "Cavour" class (battleships).

b. "Garibaldi" class (cruisers).

c. "Navigatore" class (destroyers).

14. FRANCE. French vessels of a given design are identified with one vessel of that type. Battleships are named for statesmen or geographic locations. Cruisers are also named for statesmen, often former ministers of marine. For example

a. "Richelieu" class (battleships).

b. "Dunkerque" class (battleships).

c. "Tourville" class (cruisers).

15. UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS. Soviet naval vessels are restricted in their areas of operation and will be of principally local interest.

16. GERMANY. Because the German fleet is small, particularly in terms of major combat types, the German name system is not discussed herein. The few major vessels may be learned individually.

17. JAPAN. a. Japanese naval vessels are classified according to type. Vessels of each type are identified by class, as are United States and British vessels. All vessels of the same basic design are associated with one vessel of that design. For example

(r) "Kongo" class (battleships).

(2) "Nachi" class (cruisers).

(3) "Shokaku" class (aircraft carriers).

(4) "Shigure" class (destroyers).

b. Japan's recent practice has been to name battleships for ancient provinces and mountains; aircraft carriers for mountains, dragons, and birds; heavy cruisers for mountains; light cruisers for rivers; first class destroyers for meteorological names; and second class destroyers for trees, flowers, and fruits. Translations of the Japanese names may be found in "Jane's Fighting Ships."