Initials etc used only once are explained on the page and will not usually annear in the Glossary.
|
£M |
Million pounds sterling |
|
AA |
Anti-Aircraft |
|
AD |
Aircraft Direction |
|
ADAWS |
Action Data Automation Weapon System |
|
AEA |
Atomic Energy Authority |
|
AEL |
Admiralty Engineering Laboratory (West Drayton) |
|
AEW |
Admiralty Experiment Works (Haslar) |
|
AIO |
Action Information Organisation |
|
ALSL |
Auxiliary Landing Ship Logistic |
|
AML |
Admiralty Materials Laboratory (Holton Heath) |
|
AOR |
Replenishment ship (ammunition, dry stores, oil) |
|
ARL |
Admiralty Research Laboratory (Teddington) |
|
ASDIC |
Submarine detection equipment (later Sonar) |
|
ASNE |
American Society of Naval Engineers |
|
ASR I |
Admiralty Standard Range (diesel) 1 |
|
ASW, A/S, AS |
Anti-Submarine Warfare, Anti-Submarine |
|
ASWE |
Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (Portsdown) |
|
AUWE |
Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (Portland) |
|
AVCAT |
Aviation fuel (jet) |
|
AVGAS |
Aviation fuel (petrol) |
|
B |
Beam |
|
BAE |
British Aerospace, later BAE SYSTEMS (Marine) |
|
BIBS |
Built In Breathing System (submarine escape) |
|
Bidder |
A/S torpedo Mark 30 |
|
Blue Slug |
Surface-to-surface version of Sea Slug |
|
BS |
British Standard |
|
CASD |
Computer Aided Ship Design (see GODDESS, CONDES) |
|
CCH |
Command Cruiser |
|
CDL |
Central Dockyard Laboratory (Portsmouth) |
|
CF299 |
Sea Dart surface-to-air missile |
|
CFD |
Computational Fluid Dynamics |
|
CL |
Light Cruiser (guns 6in or less) |
|
CM |
Midships Section Coefficient (Mid Sec Area/BxT) |
|
CMS |
Coastal Mine Sweeper |
|
CO2 |
Carbon Dioxide |
|
COGOG |
Combined Gas or Gas (machinery) |
|
CONDES |
Concept Design CASD system |
|
COSAG |
Combined Steam and Gas (machinery) |
|
CP |
Controllable Pitch (propellers) |
|
CP |
Prismatic Coefficient (Immersed Volume/Lx Mid Sec Area) |
|
CRBF |
Close Range Blind Fire (director) |
|
CVA |
Fleet Aircraft Carrier (Attack) |
|
CVS |
Small Aircraft Carrier |
|
Cw |
Waterplane Area Coefficient (Waterplane Area/LxB) |
|
DN Plans |
Director Naval Plans |
|
DA |
Probably development of six-barrel Bofors |
|
DCNS |
Deputy Chief of Naval Staff |
|
DEE |
Director of Electrical Engineering |
|
DERA |
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency |
|
DEPC |
Defence Equipment Procurement Committee |
|
DGS, Ship Dept |
Director General Ships, Head of Ship Department, Foxhill, Bath |
|
DGW |
Director General Weapons, Ensleigh, Bath |
|
DH.110 |
Sea Vixen all-weather fighter |
|
DNC |
Director of Naval Construction |
|
Dounreay |
Nuclear Test Establishment, Scotland (HMS Vulcan) |
|
DP |
Dual Purpose (AA/surface weapon) |
|
DPT |
Originally Dreadnought Project Team (or its Director), later Director Polaris Technical |
|
DSMP |
Director Submarine Projects |
|
DTSD |
Director Tactical and Staff Duties (issues Staff Targets and Requirements) |
|
EC |
Escort Cruiser |
|
EDATS |
Extra Deep Armed Towed Sweep |
|
E-in-C |
Engineer-in-Chief |
|
ELSA |
Emergency Life Support Apparatus |
|
EPC |
Equipment Procurement Committee |
|
EW |
Electronic Warfare |
|
FAA |
Fleet Air Arm |
|
FADE |
Fleet Aircraft Direction Escort |
|
FFWP |
Future Fleet Working Party. To reconsider the shape of the fleet after cancellation of CVA-01 |
|
FPB |
Fast Patrol Boat |
|
FPS |
Fly Plane System; fire control system (valves) |
|
FRC |
Fleet Requirements Committee |
|
FSA |
A/S Frigate, First Rate |
|
FSB |
A/S Frigate, Second Rate |
|
FSU |
Forward Support Unit (containerised support for MCMV) |
|
GODDESS |
Government Defence Design System for Ships, CASD |
|
GRP |
Glass Reinforced Plastic. (Fibreglass is a trade name and should not be used) |
|
GW |
Guided weapon |
|
GZ |
Righting Lever (of stability) |
|
HA |
High Angle |
|
Haslar |
Site of Admiralty ship tanks, AEW |
|
HDML |
Harbour Defence Motor Launch |
|
HDWS |
High Definition Warning Surface (radar) |
|
HILO |
High-Low, mix of first and second rate ships |
|
HTP |
High Test Peroxide (H2O2) |
|
HULVUL |
Hull Vulnerability Trials using Naiad. |
|
‘Hunt’ |
Second World War escort destroyer; later an MCMV class |
|
HY80, HY100 |
High Yield steel (US): 80,000 or 100,000 lbs/in2 yield strength |
|
ICCP |
Impressed Current Cathodic Protection; an electrical means of preventing corrosion of the hull. |
|
IEP |
Information Exchange Project (between navies). Also: |
|
IEP |
Integrated Electric Propulsion |
|
Ikara |
Rocket-launched A/S torpedo developed in Australia |
|
IMO |
International Maritime Organisation (merchant ship safety rules) |
|
IMS |
Inshore Mine Sweeper |
|
INA |
Institution of Naval Architects (Royal from 1960) |
|
ISO |
International Standards Organisation |
|
JNE |
Journal of Naval Engineering |
|
JSF |
Joint Strike Fighter |
|
Kestrel |
Hawker P.1127, ancestor of Harrier |
|
Komet |
Soviet anti-ship missile |
|
KVA |
Kilo Volt Amps (electric power) |
|
L |
Length |
|
LA |
Low Angle |
|
LCA |
Landing Craft Assault |
|
LCAC |
Landing Craft Air Cushion (hovercraft) |
|
LCM |
Landing Craft Mechanised |
|
LCP |
Landing Craft Personnel |
|
LCT |
Landing Craft Tank |
|
LCU |
Landing Craft Utility |
|
LCVP |
Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel |
|
Limbo |
Prototype of A/S mortar Mark X |
|
Link |
Automated transfer of data between operations rooms of a group of ships. Link 11 is the definitive NATO equipment. |
|
LPD |
Landing Ship Dock (P stands for Personnel in USN, Platform in RN) |
|
LPH |
Landing Ship Helicopter (P as above) |
|
LRS |
Long Range System (fire control) |
|
LSD |
Landing Ship Dock (originally Assault Ship) |
|
LSL |
Landing Ship Logistic |
|
LST |
Landing Ship Tank |
|
Match |
A/S system in which a small helicopter drops a torpedo on target set by ship’s sonar |
|
MCDP |
Medium Calibre Dual Purpose (gun) |
|
MCM(H) |
Mine Counter Measure (hovercraft) |
|
MCMV |
Mine Counter Measure Vessel |
|
MEO |
Marine Engineer Officer |
|
Mexiflote |
Powered raft – ship to shore for landings |
|
MoD |
Ministry of Defence |
|
Mopsy |
Short-range missile |
|
MTB |
Motor Torpedo Boat |
|
N.113 |
Scimitar fighter aircraft |
|
N.139 |
Unknown (AEW?) |
|
NA.39 |
Buccaneer strike aircraft |
|
NAB |
Nickel Aluminium Bronze |
|
NATO |
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation |
|
NBCD |
Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defence |
|
NC |
Non Cemented (armour) |
|
NCRE |
Naval Construction Research Establishment |
|
NDB |
Nuclear Depth Bomb |
|
NMM |
National Maritime Museum |
|
NPC |
Naval Policy Committee |
|
NQ1 |
High Tensile Steel |
|
NST, NSR |
Naval Staff Target, Naval Staff Requirement |
|
OMEC |
One Man Escape Chamber |
|
OPV |
Offshore Patrol Vessel |
|
OR |
Operational Requirement |
|
ORC |
Operational Requirements Committee |
|
P.1127 |
Kestrel |
|
P.1154 |
Supersonic VSTOL fighter project |
|
P.177 |
Saunders Roe rocket/jet fighter |
|
PAAMS |
Principal Anti-Aircraft Missile System |
|
PAP |
A French remote-controlled mine disposal system |
|
PNO |
Principal Naval Overseer |
|
Polaris |
Submarine-launched ballistic missile |
|
PRO |
Public Record Office (Kew) |
|
psi |
Pounds per square inch (pressure, stress) |
|
PTO |
Professional and Technology Officer, 1–4 (corresponds to Chief, Senior, Leading Draughtsman and similar grades) |
|
PVC |
Poly vinyl chloride |
|
PWR1 & 2 |
Pressurised Water Reactors |
|
QR |
Quintuple Revolving (torpedo tubes) |
|
QT28, QT35 |
Quenched and Tempered Steel, 28 or 35 tons/in2 yield |
|
RAE |
Royal Aircraft Establishment (Farnborough) |
|
RAS |
Replenishment At Sea |
|
RCNC |
Royal Corps of Naval Constructors |
|
REA |
Radar Echoing Area |
|
RFA |
Royal Fleet Auxiliary |
|
RINA |
Royal Institution of Naval Architects (From 1960) |
|
RNES |
Royal Naval Engineering Service (civilian electrical & mechanical engineers later merged with RCNC) |
|
RNPL |
RN Physiological Laboratory |
|
RRA |
Rolls Royce and Associates |
|
Ruler |
Anti-torpedo weapon |
|
S.55 |
Helicopter that developed into the Wessex |
|
SCC |
Ship Characteristics Committee |
|
SCOSE |
Standing Committee On Submarine Escape |
|
Sea Cat |
Close-range AA missile |
|
Sea Dart |
Surface-to-air missile |
|
Sea Slug |
Surface-to-air missile |
|
Sea Wolf |
Close-range surface-to-air missile |
|
shp |
Shaft horse power |
|
SLEP |
Ship Life Extension Programme |
|
SOLAS |
Safety Of Life At Sea Convention setting out safety rules for merchant ships |
|
Sonar |
Submarine location sensor |
|
Squid |
A/S mortar |
|
SRN |
Saunders Roe hovercraft |
|
SS(B)N |
Ballistic Missile Nuclear Submarine |
|
SSN |
Nuclear Submarine |
|
STAAG |
Stabilised Tachymetric AA Gun (twin 40mm Bofors) |
|
STD |
Simple Tachymetric Director |
|
STUFT |
Ships Taken Up From Trade |
|
SWATH |
Small Waterplane Twin Hull |
|
SWDCG |
Ship and Weapon Design Coordination Group |
|
T |
Draught |
|
Tartar |
USN surface-to-air missile |
|
TIR |
Target Indication Radar |
|
TNT |
TriNitro Toluene (high explosive) |
|
TIU |
Target Indication Unit (gunnery) |
|
Trident |
Submarine-launched ballistic missile |
|
UMH |
Utility Mine Hunter |
|
USN |
United States Navy |
|
UTS |
Ultimate Tensile Stress |
|
UXW |
High tensile steel |
|
V-T |
Vosper-Thornycroft shipbuiilders |
|
VERTREP |
Vertical Replenishment using helicopter |
|
VSEL |
Vickers Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd |
|
VSTOL |
Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing |
|
YARD |
Yarrow-Admiralty Research Dept, for machinery (the initials are still used, but neither the Admiralty nor Yarrows are involved) |