Why do ships have different letters in front of their names? Could you tell me what the following stand for please? SS, MV, HMS, MS, TS

Ships have letters in front of their names to denote the type of vessel it is.

SS means Steam Ship
MV means Motor Vessel
HMS means Her Majesty's Ship
MS means Motor Ship
TS means Turbine ship

You may have heard of RMS too!
This means Royal Mail Steamer. These ships were built to carry the mail transatlantically. as in RMS Titanic etc.

Hope this helps!

[This message was edited by Jenny Roberts on 01-02-04 at 02:55 PM.]