Do you add the USS prefix to ships with no name?

[TLAM Strike]

Writing a paper and I wanted to check whether a ship that just assigned a hull number gets a USS.

Is it USS LST-779 or just LST-779?

I've seen it written both ways and I want to double check if someone knows the procedure for identifying such a ship.

[Tribesman]

If the prefix is uniform with set exceptions then it applies to the LST unless it fits the specified exceptions.
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq63-1.htm
(its at the bottom)

[Sailor Steve]

It can go either way. Of course it's pretty much mandatory for named ships the first time used in a document. After that it can be used or not. For numbered ships I've also seen it used and not used, and there doesn't seem to be a standard. USS PT-138 may be officially okay, but it looks weird in print, so depending on how official the paper is it might not matter.

[CaptainHaplo]

I could be wrong, but my understanding was that each ship has a designation - and a name. For example, the USS Enterprise is CVN-65. "USS CVN-65" would NOT be proper useage. Thus, the USS is ONLY applied to the name.

Also - the USS portion is only used after the vessel is officially accepted from its builder into the armed service. Prior to that, it may use either its designation or its "name", but the name usage only occurs without the USS portion because it is not yet a United States Ship/Submarine.

Hope that helps.

[TLAM Strike]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to take Steve's advice and not use it since for the subject of the paper officialness matters less than looking good.