Template:Documentation/template page

Usage
This is a typing short cut for linking to US Navy ship articles named in the format "USS Deep Six (AWOL-99)". Since ship names are italicized in article text, linking to them in the usual manner means typing everything twice, such as USS Deep Six (AWOL-99). This template halves that to USS Deep Six (AWOL-99).

Formal usage

 *  USS Ship Name 
 *  USS Ship Name (ID) , where ID can be the hull number, launch year, or pennant number, as specified in the article title.

Examples
Last example could be used to link to ship index (disambiguation) page

Optional display control parameter
There is an optional third parameter that controls which pieces of text are displayed in the article. Its value is treated as a binary number and will display the corresponding "bits". So setting the 4's bit will display USS, setting the 2's bit will display the ship name, and setting the 1's bit will display the ID. If binary math isn't your thing, refer to these examples: N.B.: Be careful with the third parameter if not using the second parameter. In the Constitution example above, the "|3=2" means set the third parameter to a value of two, while the alternate syntax shows using a pair of pipes, "||2", to position the value two in the third parameter position.