List of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962)

US Navy rigid airship Los Angeles tied up to the mooring mast aboard airship tender Patoka, circa 1931

A US Marine Corps SBD-1 Dauntless of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 132 (VMSB-132) in flight over the Pacific Ocean, circa 1941

A US Navy HSS-1 Seabat of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Two (HS-2) aboard aircraft carrier Yorktown, circa 1959

A US Marine Corps F4H-1 Phantom II jet of Marine All-Weather Fighter Squadron 314 (VMF(AW)-314) firing an AIM-7 Sparrow missile, circa 1961

This list of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962) includes prototype, pre-production and operational type designations under the 1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system, which was used by the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Coast Guard. The list also includes airships, which were designated under different systems than fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft until 1954, and naval aircraft that received designations under the 1911 and 1914 U.S. Navy systems, which were sequential by manufacturer and/or aircraft class, and did not convey information about the aircraft's mission.

For aircraft designations under the U.S. Army Air Force/U.S. Air Force system or the post-1962 Tri-Service system—which includes U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aircraft currently in service—see List of military aircraft of the United States. For Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aircraft that did not receive formal designations—including those procured from 1917 to 1922 when no designation system was in force, and later aircraft that did not receive designations for other reasons—see List of undesignated military aircraft of the United States.