The Wikipedia:Manual of Style describes general Wikipedia style conventions, while specific naming conventions for ship articles are laid out at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ships). Following are guidelines for developing the three primary types of articles used by this project: index pages, ship class articles, and individual ship articles.

Index pages

If there has been more than one ship with the same name, create a ship index page for the generic ship name. Like the disambiguation rules, unless one instance of the ship overshadows all others (e.g. HMS Victory), the index is the primary article. Index pages about ships should include in their titles only the standard prefix used by ships of that name. Other identification should be omitted, so that a reader can easily locate the material sought; for example, name an index article simply "USS Enterprise".

Within the article, give a brief introduction to the name, followed by very brief identifications of each vessel. The identifications should provide enough information for a reader to find the particular ship being sought, but not expand into an account of her career. You should give:

• the hull number or pennant number (if any);
• the year of launch (if known, or another significant date such as year of purchase or commissioning if not);
• ship type (frigate/destroyer/third-rate) and class (if any); and
• the single most significant event of her career, if any (e.g. "fought at the battle of Trafalgar", "convoy escort in World War II", "wrecked off Jamaica in a hurricane").

Index pages should use the template {{Shipindex}}.

Sample index page

Three ships of the [[Royal Navy]] have been named '''HMS ''Pinafore''''' after the [[pinafore]]:

* [[HMS Pinafore (1652)|HMS ''Pinafore'' (1652)]], launched in 1652 as ''Dunbar'', was a 60-gun third-rate ship of the line. She fought in the First Anglo-Dutch War and was renamed ''Pinafore'' on the Restoration in 1660.

* [[HMS Pinafore (1878)|HMS ''Pinafore'' (1878)]], launched in 1878, was a ''Rackstraw''-class sloop-of-war that saw action against the Penzance corsairs.

* {{HMS|Pinafore|D987}}, launched in 1943, was an ''Operetta''-class escort destroyer. She served in World War II, escorting cheese convoys to Archangel. She was coincidentally sunk by ''U-987'' in 1944.

{{shipindex|name=Pinafore, HMS}}

[[Category:Royal Navy ship names|Pinafore]]

Notes:

• On a shipindex page, don't obscure a ship article's name behind piping—if the article name is disambiguated by a year or hull/pennant number, the link to it on a shipindex page should display this. You can use one of the templates at Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships/Tools#Editing shortcut templates to easily format a ship's name in italics while still displaying the full article name.
• When you make an index page, always check "What links here". There are often pages that link to the ship name that need to be redirected.
• Not all navies have categories of ship names.

Individual ship articles

Articles about individual ships should have fully disambiguated titles, and include all information from the index page; in other words, don't assume that the reader has seen the index page.

Infoboxes

Infoboxes provide a summary of information about the subject of an article in a consistent, attractive, and easy-to-read way. All ship articles and ship class articles should use an infobox to summarize characteristics and other information. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships/Tables for full details on the ship infoboxes.

Introductory sentence

The first sentence of (any) article should use the article title (set in bold face) early in the sentence and establish context. In the case of ships, set all elements of the name in bold face, with the ship's name also italicized; for example, '''HMS ''Ark Royal'' (R07)''', '''USS ''Enterprise'' (CV-6)'''. The commissioning nation, the ship type, and the time period are important elements of context. Why the particular name was given is interesting, especially if it is not obvious. It is also helpful to the reader to mention the particular significance of the ship, such as "world's first aircraft carrier". Later references to the same ship in the article should just use the ship's name, still in italics: Ark Royal or Enterprise.

Article body

In a sense, an article about a ship is a lot like a biography; the dates of commissioning and decommissioning set the context, while achievements explain why the ship has an article in the first place, and events in the ship's life connect the narrative. In addition, a ship will have associated with other ships and various people such as officers and crew; these should all be interlinked—famous admirals were once junior officers on some ship or another, and the cross-links will illuminate.

Since this is Wikipedia, ship articles should be pruned to the ship's life as such, and links made to separate articles about battles and other multi-ship events (such as the cruise of the Great White Fleet).

Finally, articles should make objective assessments of the ship as the data warrants ("too slow to be of use", etc). If the article content is not sufficient to support the assessment, then cite external references. Assessments are especially important for ship class articles. Every ship article should have a picture of the ship if possible.

Possessive form of ship's name

When using the possessive form of a ship's name in articles, use the {{'}} template to provide proper styling and avoid coding problems that can occur when an apostrophe follows italicized text. The apostrophe and "s" should not be italicized:

Linked names: {{USS|Ticonderoga||2}}{{'}}s displays as "TiconderogaTemplate:WP Ships USS instances's".

Regular names: ''Ticonderoga''{{'}}s displays as "Ticonderoga's".

Pronouns

Further information: Wikipedia:WikiProject_Military_history/Style_guide#Pronouns

Ships may be referred to either using female pronouns ("she", "her") or genderless pronouns ("it", "its"). Either usage is acceptable, but each article should be internally consistent and employ one or the other exclusively. As with all optional styles, articles should not be changed from one style to another unless there is a substantial reason to do so.

Categorization

Further information: Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships/Categorization

Types of boats and ships should be categorized under Category:Boat types and Category:Ship types. The very small number of notable boats and ships should be classified under Category:Boats and Category:Ships; usually it is more appropriate to utilize the subcategories for nationality, purpose, etc. Vessels that are not clearly "boats" or "ships" may be classified under both, to facilitate being found either way. Oddball water vessels not otherwise classifiable should go in Category:Water transport. Ships from works of fiction should be categorized in Category:Fictional ships.

Project template

When editing an article of interest to WikiProject Ships, please make sure that {{WikiProject Ships}} is placed at the top of the related Talk page.

Sample individual ship article

{{otherships|HMS Pinafore}}

'''HMS ''Pinafore'' (1878)''' was a [[Rackstraw class sloop|''Rackstraw''-class]] [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] of the [[Royal Navy]], named after [[pinafore|a frilly apron]]. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 29 December 1878, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 25 May 1879 under the command of Captain Corcoran.
...

{{Rackstraw class sloop}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinafore (1878)}}
[[Category:Rackstraw class sloops]]

Or for a more modern ship:

{{otherships|HMS Pinafore}}

'''HMS ''Pinafore'' (D987)''' was an [[Operetta class destroyer|''Operetta''-class]] [[escort destroyer]] of the [[Royal Navy]], named after [[pinafore|a frilly apron]]. She was laid down by Bobstay and Sons, [[Penzance]], on 17 October 1942, [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 6 May 1943, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 4 August 1943. She served in [[World War II]] under the command of Captain [[Tom Tucker]].
...

{{Operetta class destroyer}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinafore (D987)}}
[[Category:Operetta class destroyers]]

Soviet and Russian ships have NATO reporting names in addition to the actual project number and name in Russian:

'''K-141 ''Kursk''''' was a Project 949A Антей (''Antey'', [[Antaeus]]; also known by the [[NATO reporting name]] of [[Oscar class submarine|"Oscar-II" class]]) nuclear cruise missile submarine, named for the [[Battle of Kursk]]....

Ship class articles

Ship class articles should follow the same general format as individual ship articles. If a ship class is named after its lead ship, the name is italicized (Ohio class); otherwise, use plain text (A class). When using the name of a class as an adjective, use a hyphen (A-class submarine).

Sample ship class article

The '''''Rackstraw'' class''' was a [[ship class|class]] of [[sloop-of-war|sloops]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. Seven were built at [[Penzance]] by Bobstay and Sons between 1876 and 1878. They were wooden composite screw sloops — that is, they had three masts as well as steam-powered screw propulsion. They were modified versions of the [[Fantome class sloop|''Fantome'' class]]
...

== Ships ==
* [[HMS Rackstraw (1876)|''Rackstraw'']], launched in 1876
* [[HMS Hebe (1876)|''Hebe'']], launched in 1876
...

{{Rackstraw class sloop}}

[[Category:Ship classes]]
[[Category:Rackstraw class sloops| ]]