Navy Special Purpose Ships

There are a number of special purpose ships in the Navy fleet which provide very specific roles.

Command Ships

There are two command ships in the Navy which provide command and control operations for an amphibious assault force. These ships are designed to be fast enough to keep up with the assault force, have limited weapons on board and a helicopter landing pad.

Coastal Patrol Boats

Coastal patrol boats are designed and used to patrol and monitor the coastline for security, interdiction and surveillance operations. The Navy has 13 coastal patrol boats some of which are used by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Mine Countermeasures Ships

Mine countermeasures ships are specially designed to detect ocean mine fields to protect other ships. These ships have special hulls to reduce their threat of mines and equipment to detect minefields. The mine countermeasures ships will be replaced by the Littoral Combat Ships.

Submarine Tenders

The Navy has two submarine tenders which are used to provide repair and support to submarines without requiring the submarine to return to port.

Joint High-Speed Vessel

The joint high-speed vessel program is a joint Army and Navy program to build a fast, shallow draft ship for carrying soldiers and cargo.

Sea Fighter

Sea Fighter is an experimental, high speed vessel designed to test various new technologies.

Submersibles

Submersibles are like small submarines primarily used for taking Navy SEALs to a mission and bringing them back.

Sailing Frigate USS Constitution

The Navy maintains the USS Constitution which is one of the first ships in the US Navy. The USS Constitution is a wood hull, three mast sailing ship carrying 55 cannons.

Oceanographic Survey Ships

Navy oceanographic survey ships gather underwater information in deep oceans such as scanning the ocean floor.

Surveillance Ships

The Navy’s two surveillance ships tow sensors to detect submarines and protect other ships from underwater attack.

Cable Repair

The Navy has one cable repair and cable laying ship for maintaining underwater communications cables.