Italics And Underlining: Names Of Spacecraft, Aircraft, Ships, And Trains

The names of specific spacecraft, aircraft, ships, and trains are treated like titles: they should be italicized. You don’t need to italicize brand names like Boeing or Amtrak.

Let’s all go riding on the Marrakesh Express.

The Challenger exploded over Florida in 1986.

Robert Ballard was obsessed with finding the Titanic wreckage.

The Enola Gay dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

However, tags such as H.M.S. and U.S.S. are not italicized; they’re just left as regular capitals.

Horatio Hornblower sailed on the H.M.S. Indefatigable.

John built a small model of the U.S.S. Voyager, and he now has it on a shelf in his room.

If the H.M.S. or the U.S.S. is part of a title, the whole thing is italicized or underlined, as appropriate.

In grade school, I was a maiden in the musical H.M.S. Pinafore.