World War II Naval Dictionary
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This searchable dictionary of nearly 9,000 terms is mainly a compilation of three U.S. Navy publications that list World War II terminology, transcribed by the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C..
We have not modified the wording of the official terms or definitions, but we have added general categories to help put the terms into context and to indicate the sources: abbreviations, blueprints, engineering, nautical, orders and Bureau of Personnel Condensation Codes. The abbreviations category also includes jargon and common code words.
Entries marked glossary are from deck log and action report glossaries assembled by the Abbot and Bush destroyer web sites. These were mainly compiled by veterans, and specifically pertain to World War II destroyer logs and reports.
The other sources are:
- Manual of Commands and Orders, [1945] orders
- Nomenclature of Naval Vessels, [February 1942] blueprints, engineering and nautical
- Glossary of U.S. Naval Abbreviations, OpNav 29-P1000 [April 1949] abbreviation and Bureau of Personnel Condensation Code
Capitalization and punctuation vary considerably; expect to see many styles in use.