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Individual ship articles should belong to the following categories whenever possible:

• Ship class category for a ship that is a member of a class. For example, USS Fletcher (DD-445) belongs to Category:Fletcher-class destroyers.

• Subcategories of Category:Ships by country for each country that the ship served.
  • Ship class categories already belong to country categories. There is no need to put a country category for the primary operator of a class. For example, USS Bang (SS-385) is a member of Category:Balao class submarines, which is already a member of Category:Submarines of the United States. However, USS Bang was sold to Spain, so she is a member of Category:Submarines of Spain.
  • USS Enterprise (CVN-65) belongs to Category:Aircraft carriers of the United States because she is not a member of a class.

• All appropriate subcategories of Category:Ships by period. For example, USS Iowa (BB-61) belongs to Category:World War II battleships of the United States, Category:Korean War battleships of the United States, and Category:Cold War battleships of the United States because she served in all three eras.
  • Some ships will not belong to an existing period category. That's all right; the ship doesn't need a period category if none are available. Think hard. Discuss on the WP:SHIPS talk page, before creating a new period category.
  • Only use a period category when the ship actually served in the event, not if the ship just existed at the time. For example, a ship should only belong in a Korean War era category if she actually served off of Korea during the war. For instance, USS Constitution, launched in 1797, remains in commission today as a museum. However, she should not be listed in period categories for periods during which she had no active role.
  • By extension, do not create or use period categories that do not apply to the country involved. For example, only England should have Victorian era categories.

Optional categories you may wish to apply:

• Categories indicating the location where the ship was built, like Category:Tyne-built ships.

• Categories indicating current disposition, if applicable, like Category:Museum ships or Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean. Not necessary for ships retired and scrapped, but if an appropriate disposition category exists, the ship should belong to it.

This list is not meant to limit the categories that should be applied to ship articles. Please apply other categories as appropriate.

Ship class articles should belong to the following categories:

• Ship class category: For example, Fletcher-class destroyer belongs to Category:Fletcher-class destroyers.

• Subcategory of Category:Ship classes. For example, Fletcher-class destroyer belongs to Category:Destroyer classes.
  • Use Ship class category where an appropriate Ship classes subcategory does not exist.
  • Create an appropriate Subcategory of Ship classes if it is probable that the new subcategory will contain other members. For example, Category:Tanker classes should probably eventually be created.

• All appropriate subcategories of Category:Ships by period. For example, Iowa-class battleship belongs to Category:World War II battleships of the United States, Category:Korean War battleships of the United States, Category:Vietnam War battleships of the United States, and Category:Cold War battleships of the United States because members of that class served in all four periods.

Ship class articles should NOT belong to the following categories:

• Country categories. Country categories are for individual ships and for ship class categories, but not ship class articles.

Ship class categories should belong to the following categories:

• A subcategory of Category:Ship classes. For example, Category:Fletcher-class destroyers belongs to Category:Destroyer classes.
  • Use Ship classes category where an appropriate Ship classes subcategory does not exist.
  • Create an appropriate Subcategory of Ship classes category if it is probable that the new subcategory will contain other members. For example, Category:Tanker classes should probably eventually be created.

• A subcategory of Category:Ships by country for the primary operator(s) of the class. If a small number of ships of a large class were sold to a country, do not place that country's category here; place it on the specific ships instead. Use categories of the form (ship type) of (country). For example, Category:Ticonderoga class cruisers should belong to Category:Cruisers of the United States.

Ship class categories should NOT belong to the following categories:

• Period categories. Period categories are for individual ships ONLY, not their classes.

It is important to make sure the articles will sort in proper alphabetical order . Do not include the ship prefix (e.g. HMAS, USS, SS) in the sorting information. Also, names are often reused, sometimes even in the same period. Include hull classification symbols, hull numbers, pennant numbers, and/or dates from the article name to ensure that ships of the same name sort chronologically.

Use the {{DEFAULTSORT}} magic word to set the sort term for all of a ship's categories. It's used like this:

• {{DEFAULTSORT:<sort key>}}

Use it once, before the listing of categories, and it will sort the article automatically in each category.

Here is an example of a DEFAULTSORT line from USS Lexington (CV-16):

• {{DEFAULTSORT:Lexington (CV-16)}} - Right
• {{DEFAULTSORT:Lexington}} - Incomplete; may not sort properly with USS Lexington (CV-2)
• {{DEFAULTSORT:USS Lexington (CV-16)}} - Wrong; would lump all USS ships in U and all Commonwealth ships in H.
• {{DEFAULTSORT:L}} - Wrong; will sort at the beginning of L, ahead of USS Lake Champlain (CV-39)!

Wikipedia sorts alphabetically rather than numerically, so if you use the following sort keys on USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Lexington (CV-16) respectively they will sort incorrectly:

• {{DEFAULTSORT:Lexington (CV-2)}}
• {{DEFAULTSORT:Lexington (CV-16)}}

When Wikipedia sees that, it compares the names and sees that they're identical up until after "(CV-", but then it compares the 2 and the first digit of 16 and sorts CV-2 after CV-16! In order to fix this, ships with low numbers should be given sort keys like this:

• {{DEFAULTSORT:Lexington (CV-02)}}

"Low numbers" are relative. The highest-numbered American fleet aircraft carrier is USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77), so fleet aircraft carriers under 10 should be padded with zeroes. On the other hand, the highest numbered American gun cruiser was USS Newport News (CA-148), so cruisers under 100 should be padded with zeroes.

If a ship was sold to another navy and renamed, it should be sorted alphabetically under the article name, not the new name. For example, USS Stickell (DD-888) was sold to Greece and served in the Hellenic Navy as HNS Kanaris (D-212). Here is how her Hellenic Navy category should look:

• [[Category:Hellenic Navy ships|Stickell (DD-888)]] - Right
• [[Category:Hellenic Navy ships|Kanaris (D-212)]] - Wrong; this will sort the ship under K, but it will still be listed as USS Stickell, not HNS Kanaris.
• Placing [[Category:Hellenic Navy ships|Kanaris (D-212)]] on a redirect called HNS Kanaris (D-212) - Wrong; it might allow "Kanaris" to appear on the category page, but prevents a reader of the Stickell/Kanaris article from finding other Hellenic ships.