This list of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962) includes prototype, pre-production and operational type designations under the 1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system, which was used by the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Coast Guard. The list also includes airships, which were designated under different systems than fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft until 1954, and naval aircraft that received designations under the 1911 and 1914 U.S. Navy systems, which were sequential by manufacturer or aircraft class, and did not convey information about the aircraft's mission.

For aircraft designations under the U.S. Army Air Force/U.S. Air Force system or the post-1962 Tri-Service system—which includes U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aircraft currently in service—see List of military aircraft of the United States. For Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aircraft that did not receive formal designations—including those procured from 1917 to 1922 when no designation system was in force, and later aircraft that did not receive designations for other reasons—see List of undesignated military aircraft of the United States.

Summary of pre-1962 designation systems 1911 system The first U.S. Navy designation system, adopted in 1911, consisted of a letter signifying the manufacturer followed by sequential numbers for individual aircraft from each manufacturer. Only heavier-than-air craft (i.e. airplanes) were given designations. The system was subsequently amended to differentiate aircraft classes from the same manufacturer. The designation letters were as follows:

A – Curtiss Aeroplane Company, landplanes and hydro aeroplanes (i.e. floatplanes) B – Wright Company, landplanes and hydro aeroplanes C – Curtiss Aeroplane, flying boats D – Burgess and Curtis, landplanes and hydro aeroplanes E – Curtiss Aeroplane, amphibians

1914 system In March 1914, the navy introduced a system similar to hull classification symbols for warships, with an alphabetical code for the aircraft class followed by a sequential number assigned to an individual aircraft. All aircraft designated under the 1911 system that were still in inventory were redesignated. Also consistent with warship designation practices, the designation of the first aircraft of a particular design became the type designation for similar aircraft; for instance, aircraft similar to AH-8 were referred to as AH-8 type.

The aircraft classes and sub-types were as follows: A – Heavier than air AH – Aeroplane, Hydro AB – Flying boat AX – Amphibian B – Free balloon C – Dirigible D – Kite balloon

This second system was abandoned in May 1917 without immediate replacement; until March 1922, the navy used manufacturers' model designations. However, some later aircraft similar to types with 1914 system designations were given conforming designations, apparently on an informal basis.

1922 system

On 29 March 1922, a new designation system was introduced with a reorganization of U.S. naval aviation under the Bureau of Aeronautics. The system conveyed its information in the form: (Mission)(Design Number)(Manufacturer)-(Subtype)(Minor Modification)

For example, F4U-1A referred to a minor modification (A) to the first major subtype (1) of Chance-Vought's (U) fourth (4) fighter (F) design.

For the first few years after the system was introduced, the manufacturer's letter and the mission letter were sometimes reversed. If it was the manufacturer's first design for that particular mission, there was no number before the manufacturer letter.

Prototypes under the 1922 system were normally prefixed with "X" (differing from purely experimental X-planes, which were not generally expected to go into production), while pre-production or trials aircraft were usually prefixed "Y", and airships were prefixed "Z" (differing from Army or Air Force use of "Z" to designate obsolete aircraft for storage or disposal).

Airships and balloons

Prior to 1954, lighter-than-air craft used separate designation systems from those used for fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft, or were undesignated. As a general rule, a "Z" prefix identified lighter-than-air craft.

Rigid airships Rigid airships were designated as ZR-class—"R" for rigid—with a suffixed number identifying the individual aircraft, and unlike all other lighter-than-air craft were commissioned no differently that surface ships; therefore, the ZR code was included as a hull classification symbol with those of surface ships. With the introduction of the Akron-class airship, an "S" mission suffix was added to signify scout (ZRS-class).

Other airships The first U.S. Navy non-rigid airship was ordered in 1915 before an airship designation system was standardized and was designated DN-1 for Dirigible, Non-rigid. When subsequent airships were ordered into series production for World War I (WWI), alphabetical class letters were adopted starting with the B-class blimp, with individual aircraft identified by a suffixed number; DN-1 was retroactively considered A-class by implication. Within each class, individual airships often had significant design variations, and were sometimes sourced from different manufacturers; the class designations referred to nominal power and size.

The first mission designation system for non-rigid airships, introduced in 1940, took the following form: (Construction)(Mission)-(Class)

For example, the ZNP-K referred to K-class (K) patrol (P) non-rigid airship (ZN).

In 1947, this system was replaced by one more similar to the 1922 fixed-wing system, and the "N" for non-rigid was dropped due to the termination of the rigid airship program. The 1947 system took the following form: (Z for airship)(Mission)(Design Number)(Class)-(Subtype)(Minor Modification) For example, the ZP2N-1W referred to the airborne early warning modification (W) of the first subtype (1) of the N-class' (N) second (2) patrol (P) airship (Z).

The airship mission designations were initially "G" for scout, "N" for trainer, and "P" for patrol. In 1947, "N" was changed to "T" for trainers, while "H" for search and rescue and "U" for utility were added, although the latter two mission letters were ultimately not used.

In 1954, the Navy did away with the separate airship designation system and unified it with the main 1922 system, while retaining the "Z" prefix.

Spherical crewed free gas balloons used for airship crew training were considered ZF-class aircraft but never received formal designations and were identified only by serial number and volume; similarly, crewed kite balloons and uncrewed barrage balloons were considered ZK-class, but were undesignated.

Other exceptions The non-standard XDH designation was applied to two de Havilland aircraft procured in 1927 and 1934 for use by the U.S. Naval Attaché in London.

In 1952, the Navy and Air Force agreed to standardize some flight training curricula and equipment. Accordingly, the T-28 Trojan and T-34 Mentor trainers were adopted and operated by the Navy under their Air Force designations.

1911 system designations, 1911–1914 Data from Baugher, Joe (2006) A: Curtiss A-1 to A-4 B: Wright B-1 to B-3 C: Curtiss C-1 to C-5 D: Burgess and Curtis D-1 D-2 E: Curtiss E-1 - redesignated from A-2 after conversion to amphibian 1914 system designations, 1914–1917 Data from Baugher, Joe (2014) and Swanborough and Bowers (1976), as noted

A: Heavier-than-air

AB: Flying boat AB-1 to AB-5 - Curtiss; redesignated from C-1 through C-5 AB-6 - Burgess; redesignated from D-1 AB-7 - Burgess; redesignated from D-2

AH: Aeroplane, Hydro AH-1 to AH-3 - Curtiss; redesignated from A-1, A-3 and A-4 AH-4 to AH-6 - Wright; redesignated from B-1 through B-3 AH-7 - Burgess AH-8 and AH-9 - Curtiss AH-10 - Burgess AH-11 and AH-18 - Curtiss AH-19 - Wright AH-19 and AH-22 - Martin; conflicting designation, assigned after original AH-19 was rejected

AX: Amphibian AX-1 - Curtiss; redesignated from E-1

B: Free balloon

BC: Kite balloon BC-2 to BC-4 - Goodyear 1922 system designations, 1922–1962

Airborne early warning

W: Airborne early warning (1952–1962)

F: Grumman WF Tracer – redesignated E-1 in 1962 W2F Hawkeye – redesignated E-2 in 1962 U: Vought WU V: Lockheed WV Warning Star – redesignated EC-121 in 1962

Airship

ZP: Patrol (1954–1962)

G: Goodyear ZPG – redesignated from ZPN and ZP2N in 1954, redesignated Z-1 in 1962

ZS: Scout (1954–1962)

G: Goodyear ZSG – redesignated from ZP2K, ZP3K, and ZP4K ZS2G – redesignated from ZP5K

ZW: Airborne Early Warning (1954–1962)

G: Goodyear ZWG

Ambulance

A: Ambulance (1943–1962) E: Piper AE Grasshopper – redesignated from HE

H: Hospital (1929–1942)

E: Piper HE Grasshopper – redesignated AE in 1943 L: Loening HL

H: Air-Sea Rescue (1946–1962) No designations were assigned in this sequence.

Anti-submarine

S: Anti-submarine (1946–1962) In 1946, the "S for Scout" designation was replaced by "S for anti-Submarine", however, the numbers in the 'S' series were not restarted.

F: Grumman SF – skipped to avoid confusion with the SF in the Scout sequence S2F Tracker – redesignated S-2 in 1962 U: Vought SU – skipped to avoid confusion with the SU in the Scout sequence S2U

Attack

A: Attack (1946–1962)

D: Douglas AD Skyraider – redesignated from BT2D, redesignated A-1 in 1962 A2D Skyshark A3D Skywarrior – redesignated A-3 in 1962 A4D Skyhawk – redesignated A-4 in 1962 F: Grumman AF Guardian – redesignated from TB3F A2F Intruder – redesignated A-6 in 1962 H: McDonnell Douglas AH Phantom II J: North American AJ Savage – redesignated A-2 in 1962 A2J Super Savage A3J Vigilante – redesignated A-5 in 1962 M: Martin AM Mauler – redesignated from BTM U: Vought AU Corsair – redesignated from F4U-6 A2U Cutlass

Bomber

B: Bomber (1931–1943)

D: Douglas BD Havoc G: Great Lakes BG B2G M: Martin BM – redesignated from T5M N: Naval Aircraft Factory BN T: Northrop BT B2T Y: Consolidated BY Fleetster B2Y

BF: Bomber fighter (1934–1937)

B: Boeing BFB – redesignated from F6B C: Curtiss BFC Goshawk – redesignated from F11C BF2C Goshawk

BT: Bomber torpedo (1942–1945)

C: Curtiss BTC BT2C D: Douglas BTD Destroyer BT2D Destroyer II – redesignated AD in 1946 K: Kaiser-Fleetwings BTK M: Martin BTM Mauler – redesignated AM in 1946

Drone/missile

BD: Bomber drone (1944)

R: Interstate BDR

DS: Antisubmarine drone (1959–1962) N: Gyrodyne DSN DASH – redesignated H-50 in 1962

KA: Surface-to-air missile (1946–1947) For a brief period, surface-to-air missiles used the same designation system as aircraft.

M: Martin KAM Little Joe N: Naval Aircraft Factory KAN Little Joe KA2N Gorgon IIA – redesignated CTV-4 in 1947 KA3N Gorgon III – redesignated CTV-6 and RTV-4 in 1947 Q: Fairchild KAQ Lark – redesignated SAM-2 in 1947 S: Sperry KAS Sparrow – redesignated AAM-2 in 1947 Y: Convair KAY Lark – redesignated SAM-4 in 1947

KD: Unified sequence (1945–1962)

A: Ryan KDA Firebee – redesignated QM-34 in 1963 B: Beechcraft KDB Cardinal – redesignated QM-39 in 1963 KD2B Jayhawk – redesignated QM-37 in 1963 C: Curtiss-Wright KDC KD2C Skeet KD3C Skeet D: McDonnell (changed to H in 1946) KDD Katydid – redesignated from TD2D, redesignated KDH in 1946 G: Globe KDG Snipe KD2G Firefly KD3G Snipe KD4G Quail KD5G KD6G Firefly – redesignated QM-40 in 1963 H: McDonnell (changed from D in 1946) KDH Katydid – redesignated from KDD M: Martin KDM Plover N: Naval Aircraft Factory KDN Gorgon – redesignated from TD2N KD2N Gorgon – redesignated from TD3N R: Radioplane KDR Quail – redesignated from TD4D KD2R Quail – redesignated QM-36 in 1963 KD3R – skipped KD4R T: Temco KDT Teal U: Vought KDU Regulus KD2U Regulus II – redesignated QM-15 in 1963

KG: Air-to-surface missile (1946–1947)