Vessel prefixes
RV — Research Vessel
A civilian science hull of the Guttering age, flagged by an institute or science body rather than by a fleet. Commanded by a Master, with department heads for the science complement — never a Command-ladder rank. The workaday research prefix. No ship carrying it has appeared in print yet.
Table
Vessel prefixes
Stands for
Research Vessel
Operator
Civilian (science bodies / institutes)
Canon status
Confirmed
About the vessel prefixes
A hull's prefix says who flags it, not what it does — the same class of ship can carry different prefixes depending on which body registered it. The institutional prefixes come first, then the civilian conventions of the later era, then the hulls that answer to nobody.