We are party to the NATO system for pennant numbers and many other things as an associated power. We use STANAGS and NATO publications, as well as fitting in to the NATO system of pennant numbers. And each country party to that system is allocated numbers, or blocks of numbers, for its use. The US doesn’t participate.
So Hobart is D39, Arunta F151, Supply A95. Since the late 1960s we have chosen not to paint up the letter designating the ship type, known as the flag superior, on hulls of combat ships but we still do on auxiliaries. (For a while we painted up auxiliaries using the US system but we’ve given that up.). Other navies such as the RN (in NATO) and the RNZN (associated) still do paint up the flag superior. Which we still do use when employing visual signalling methods - flags and lights.
The US system is to start each ship type with “1” and go from there with each type having a two letter or more type designation. So DDG1was USS Gyatt, a Gearing class converted in the early 1960s. Again, preceding letters are not painted up except for auxiliaries which for USN ships used to paint up all the letters after “A” in the type designation (“OR” for “AOR”, replenishment oilers) although that practice seems somewhat spotty these days. MSC ships (prefix USNS instead of USS) precede the type designation with “T-“. Generally if they paint up, the whole thing is painted up - “T-AO” for an MSC oiler.
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