In the U.S. Navy, which types of ships are generally regarded as the least desirable assignments?

 This is a difficult question to answer. While deployed to my first overseas duty station, I was assigned to the USS SIMON LAKE AS-33….a submarine repair ship (tender).

This was an enormous ship and was a dream to live on. We made regular trips to Greece, Spain, Italy, and Morocco. While in the middle of the Mediterranean, the seas got pretty rough. It wasn’t uncommon to see 10–50 ft swells (not big crashing waves mind you, just huge swells). Even though my ship was almost 600ft long, cresting the swells made the screw (propeller) come out of the water! I believe being on a destroyer, or frigate in those conditions would have absolutely sucked! So, I believe a larger ship is less likely to toss you around in rough seas. Part of Navy life is standing watches. Larger ships generally have significantly large crews….the more crew members you serve onboard with, the less watches you’ll have to stand. We had 5 section duty at sea. This is a game changer, because you stand watch (deck department does anyways) in 4 hour increments. So every 5th watch, it’s your turn. On a small ship, it may be 3 section duty…or watch every 8 hours…which sucks if you go to bed at 10:00pm (22:00 hrs), and have to stand watch from balls to four (midnight to 4am).

So, in my opinion, being on a smaller ship that has a small crew may be a much more demanding and exhausting work load.

*Edit*

I would like to personally thank each and every person who reads my answer. Whether you upvote the answer or not, your time is appreciated. Reading peoples comments about their experiences while serving is such a privilege to me. Any and all information is beneficial, and you are sincerely appreciated

Sorce ; Quora