United States Navy service numbers were created in 1920, one year after the close of the First World War. The creation of Navy service numbers coincided with those of the Marine Corps, as the Marines were under the authority of the Department of the Navy.

Navy officer service numbers

Navy officer service numbers were simple in design since the Navy officer corps in 1920 was relatively small and there was little need for a complex service number system. The first Navy service numbers, which ranged from 1 to 500, were designated for retroactive presentation to retired naval officers who had served in the First World War and prior. There was much discussion within the Navy as to which Navy officer should receive Navy service #1, with suggestions ranging from

George Dewey George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

. In the end, the Navy never proceeded with the retroactive presentation of officer service numbers and the first five hundred numbers remained un-issued. The service numbers 501 to 999 were reserved for officers who were then serving on active duty in 1920. The first thirty service numbers (501 – 531) were issued but never recorded. It is possible that these were retroactive but the Navy did not keep records of which officers held these numbers. The first service number of file was #532 which was issued to Samuel R. Colhoun who was a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

Navy Supply Corps The Navy Supply Corps is the United States Navy staff corps concerned with supply, logistics, combat support, readiness, contracting, and fiscal matters. Duties Commissioned officers in the Supply Corps practice a variety of disciplines, includ ...

with service in both the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

and the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

. The Navy continued to issue further service numbers to other officers based on seniority within the Navy. In 1922, the Navy extended the service number range of officers to 10,000 and by 1925 had extended the range again to 100,000. The issuance of service numbers was based simply by date of commission within the Navy; by 1929, the Navy saw the need to extend this range again to 125,000. The cap of 125,000 had just barely been reached by the outbreak of World War II in 1941. During the Second World War, Navy officer service numbers were extended to 350,000; these numbers were simply issued by entry date into the Navy officer corps without regard to membership in the Regular Navy or

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

. In 1945, with the service number cap now reached, the Navy extended officer service numbers again to 600,000. It was not until 1955, after the Korean War had ended, that a need arose for continued expansion of Navy officer numbers. The new Navy officer numbers now extended to a cap of 800,000; service numbers had reached #670,900 by the year 1963. In 1971, with the service number cap of 800,000 nearly reached, the Navy extended officers numbers one final time to 999,999 which the Navy felt would cover all future officers to the end of the 20th century. Only a handful of numbers above 800,000 were ever issued and the Navy discontinued service numbers in January 1972.

Navy enlisted service numbers

Navy enlisted service numbers were slightly more complicated than the officers’ version, with enlisted service numbers being created in 1920 with a range of 1,000,000 to 9,999,999. Originally, there were no Navy enlisted numbers below one million to avoid enlisted personnel having the same service numbers as officers. Navy enlisted numbers were divided into nine distinct "series" beginning with the one hundred series which was intended for retroactive presentations to those enlisted personnel who had served in World War I and the Spanish–American War. The one hundred series began at number 1,000,001 (written as 100 00 01) and extended to 1,999,999 (199 99 99); this granted the Navy nine hundred ninety nine thousand ninety hundred and ninety nine possible numbers for retroactive presentation. The Navy began issuing such numbers alphabetically through its discharged service records with number 100 00 01 (the first enlisted number) assigned to a sailor named Clayton Aab. At the same time, the Navy stated that the remaining service number series would be issued to enlisted personnel based on the decade in which they served. Thus, the two hundred series (200 00 01 – 299 99 99) would be held by sailors serving in the 1920s, the three hundred series in the 1930s, and so on. In this way, the Navy felt that this service number system would cover all enlisted personnel to the end of the century. The retroactive service numbers in the 100 series were issued until the early 1930s when the Navy abandoned the project with several discharged and retired sailors still without 100 series service numbers. The two and three hundred series were being issued as planned, however by the beginning of the 1930s, it was realized that the Navy would quickly run out of service numbers especially if there was ever a major war requiring a vast number of enlistments. As a solution, the Navy changed the way it issued enlisted service numbers and now provided service numbers from all nine series. Instead of the first number indicating a decade, this number now specified a recruiting district code. By the start of World War II, the Navy was regularly issuing enlisted service numbers from the two through nine hundred series (200 00 01 - 999 99 99) with the first number indicating a recruiting code and the last six a personal identifier. This service number system remained unchanged after World War II and continued through the Korean War and into Vietnam. The Navy also stated that no service number should ever be issued twice; however, with poor communication between recruiting offices, there were ample examples of more than one sailor holding the same service number. By the outbreak of the Vietnam War, the Navy realized that the enlisted service number system would require an overhaul as new numbers were running out and repeat issuances were becoming more and more common. As a result, the Navy created the "B" series with new enlisted numbers ranging from 10,001 to 99,999. The numbers would be annotated in the format "B12 34 56" with all six numbers a personal identifier. The intent of the Navy was to continue with higher letters of the alphabet upon the exhaustion of all available numbers. This would effectively grant the Navy over two million new service numbers. The B service number series was issued from 1965 to 1971. In 1969, the Navy further activated a "D series" which reset service numbers to 10,001 to 99,999 (there was never a "C series" created). In 1972, Navy service numbers were discontinued upon the Navy formally abolishing the use of military service numbers in favor of

Social Security numbers In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued ...

Prefix and Suffix codes

Apart from the prefix codes B, and D which were the standard prefix codes for all B and D series service numbers, the Navy used the suffix W which was issued from 1948 until the late 1960s to female enlisted personnel. The "W" suffix was written behind the service number of any officer or enlisted Navy member who was a woman. This practice was discontinued in early 1970, shortly before the discontinuance of service numbers as a whole. During World War II and into the 1960s, Naval Reservists would receive a classification code that was written after the service member's rate, rank, or service number. These codes would provide additional information about the Naval Reservist and, in this way, were the equivalent of a service number prefix. The Navy used a total of twelve "V-codes" for members of the Volunteer Reserve as well as two "O-codes" for members of the Organized Reserve. In all, these fourteen codes were as follows:

Notable service numbers

Significant Navy service numbers include:

National Personnel Records Center The National Personnel Records Center(s) (NPRC) is an agency of the National Archives and Records Administration, created in 1966. It is part of the United States National Archives federal records center system and is divided into two large Federa ...

, Military Operations Branch, "Service number index and registry of retired, deceased, and discharged military personnel" (2007) * 1894:

Harry E. Yarnell Admiral Harry Ervin Yarnell (18 October 1875 – 7 July 1959) was an American naval officer whose career spanned over 51 years and three wars, from the Spanish–American War through World War II. Among his achievements was proving, in 1932 war g ...

* 2236: William V. Pratt * 2442: Charles B. McVay, Jr. * 3894:

William S. Benson William Shepherd Benson (25 September 1855 – 20 May 1932) was an admiral in the United States Navy and the first chief of naval operations (CNO), holding the post throughout World War I. Early life and career Born in Bibb County, Georgia ...

* 5502:

Chester W. Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in C ...

* 7591:

Marc Mitscher Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific during the latter half of ...

* 7763: John W. Reeves, Jr. * 8247: William H. P. Blandy * 9643:

Arthur W. Radford Arthur William Radford (27 February 1896 – 17 August 1973) was an admiral and naval aviator of the United States Navy. In over 40 years of military service, Radford held a variety of positions including the vice chief of Naval Operations, ...

* 16718:

Ben Moreell Admiral Ben Moreell (September 14, 1892 – July 30, 1978) was the chief of the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps. Best known to the American public as the father of the Navy's Seabees, Moreell's life spanned ...

* 20485: Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter * 69428:

Max Leslie Maxwell Franklin Leslie (24 October 1902 – 26 September 1985) was a naval aviator in the United States Navy during World War II. He is credited with having played a major part in the Battle of Midway. Early life Born in Seattle, Washington, on ...

* 77207:

Chester Nimitz, Jr. Chester William "Chet" Nimitz Jr. (February 17, 1915 – January 2, 2002) was an American submarine commander in the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War, and a businessman. He was awarded the Navy Cross and three Silver Star ...

* 106684: George Lincoln Rockwell * 114685: Charles C. Taylor * 204788:

Robert Stack Robert Stack (born Charles Langford Modini Stack; January 13, 1919 – May 14, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his deep voice and commanding presence, he appeared in over forty feature films. He starred in the highly successful ABC tele ...

* 265222: James Von Brunn * 431144:

Bob Barker Robert William Barker (born December 12, 1923) is an American retired television game show host. He is known for hosting CBS's '' The Price Is Right'' from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American tele ...

* 507205:

Jim Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of th ...

* 543064:

Kinnaird R. McKee Kinnaird Rowe McKee (August 14, 1929 – December 30, 2013) was an American United States Navy four star admiral who served as Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion from 1982 to 1988. He also served as Superintendent, United States Naval Academy fro ...

* 604112:

Frank B. Kelso II Frank Benton Kelso II (July 11, 1933 – June 23, 2013) was an admiral of the United States Navy, who served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1990 to 1994. Early life Kelso was born in Fayetteville, Tennessee, on July 11, 1933. He attended public ...

* 606076:

David E. Jeremiah David Elmer Jeremiah (February 25, 1934 – October 7, 2013) was a United States Navy admiral who served as the second vice chairman and also the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After his retirement from the Navy in February 1 ...

* 104 52 73:

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

* 150 83 54:

Paul Fix Peter Paul Fix (March 13, 1901 – October 14, 1983) was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career b ...

* 288 08 15: Carl Brashear * 356 12 35:

Doris Miller Doris Miller (October 12, 1919November 24, 1943) was a United States Navy cook third class who was killed in action during World War II. He was the first Black American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the highest decoration for valor presented by ...

* 488 29 39:

Bernie Kopell Bernard Morton Kopell (born June 21, 1933) is an American character actor known for his roles as Siegfried in '' Get Smart'' from 1966 to 1969 and as Dr. Adam Bricker ("Doc") on '' The Love Boat'' from 1977 to 1986. Early beginnings Kopell was b ...

* 555 88 96:

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and succ ...

* 566 72 38:

Roy Jenson Roy Cameron Jenson, also known and credited as Roy Jensen, (February 9, 1927 – April 24, 2007) was a Canadian American football player, stuntman, and actor. Early years Born in Calgary, Alberta, Jenson moved to Los Angeles with his family as ...

* 823 51 38:

Nicholas Colasanto Nicholas Colasanto (January 19, 1924 – February 12, 1985) was an American actor and television director who is best known for his role as "Coach" Ernie Pantusso in the American television sitcom ''Cheers''. He served in the United States Nav ...

* 960 39 80:

Jeffrey Hunter Jeffrey Hunter (born Henry Herman McKinnies Jr.; November 25, 1926 – May 27, 1969) was an American film and television actor and producer known for his roles in films such as ''The Searchers'' and ''King of Kings''. On television, Hunter ...

Sources

, Instruction Memo 1865.20E, "Service Number Information", 14 April 1988 *

Military Personnel Records Center The Military Personnel Records Center (NPRC-MPR) is a branch of the National Personnel Records Center and is the repository of over 56 million military personnel records and medical records pertaining to retired, discharged, and deceased veterans ...

, "Training Guide Concerning Military Service Numbers", 28 June 2009

References