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Educate me...What happen to old school cool carrier names???

Treetop Flyer

Treetop Flyer

Well-Known Member
pilot
What about the USS United States? According to Wikipedia, CVN 75 "was authorized and laid down as USS United States but her name was changed in February 1995 at the direction of then Secretary of the Navy John H Dalton." Is that true? Perhaps a new CVN can take the name.
 
HAL Pilot

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
In the past, we have always avoided giving the name USS United States to a warship. Too big of a propaganda coup if it got damaged or sunk.
 
Vas Deferens

Vas Deferens

SNA
If I remember my Naval history correctly CVA-58 was to be the USS United States before she was cancelled soon after her keel was laid due to objections from the Air Force that in the nuclear world, the Navy was grossly obsolete.
 
HAL Pilot

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
4 US Navy warships have been named USS United States
- one of the original frigates of the USN in the 1790s
- CC-6 pre-WW2 battle cruiser that was canceled/scrapped during construction
- CVA-58 post-WW2 aircraft carrier that was canceled within days of its keeling being laid down
- CVN-75 renamed USS Harry S. Truman during construction

The argument against naming a warship was first made during WW2 and it was considered valid then. Hence no USS United States till post-war. The argument came up again during CVN-75 construction (I remember it well during my active duty time) but was "resolved" by becoming a moot point when Secretary Dalton renamed the ship. If I recall correctly, it was debated then and since in Proceedings magazine (or at least in the letters to the editor).
 
Will_T

Will_T

Will_T
HAL Pilot said:
In the past, we have always avoided giving the name USS United States to a warship. Too big of a propaganda coup if it got damaged or sunk.
Click to expand...

Yea, naming a ship after your country hasn't gone well in the past, like naming one of the pocket battleships The Duetschland. Which hitler renamed Lutzow after the war started; it sunk anyway.
 
SteveG75

SteveG75

Retired and starting that second career
None
Bring back USS Lexington. The original Lady Lex (CV-2) established Naval Aviation as the wave of the future in Naval warfare.

cv_2_01.jpg
 
Tex_Hill

Tex_Hill

Airborne All the Way!!!
In my opinion it's not just the carrier names that are weak today. Durnig WWII the Navy had subs with great names like Wahoo, Tang, or Barb. Now we've got subs named after cities or states. Nothing strikes fear in our enemies or inspires our crews like USS Kentucky does. :(

I recently finished Clear the Bridge by Adm. O'Kane, and I'm currently reading Thunder Below by Adm. Fluckey. After reading the feats of these boats and their crews the names of today's subs seem somehow lacking.
 
Calculon

Calculon

It's Calculon! Hit the deck!
Tex_Hill said:
In my opinion it's not just the carrier names that are weak today. Durnig WWII the Navy had subs with great names like Wahoo, Tang, or Barb. Now we've got subs named after cities or states. Nothing strikes fear in our enemies or inspires our crews like USS Kentucky does. :(

I recently finished Clear the Bridge by Adm. O'Kane, and I'm currently reading Thunder Below by Adm. Fluckey. After reading the feats of these boats and their crews the names of today's subs seem somehow lacking.
Click to expand...

Well the states were traditionally reserved for battleships, which were once the most feared ships on the sea, so giving it to subs isn't too big of a stretch

However I'd like to see some consistency in naming for once! Seems every class starts off well with the naming then it becomes a giant mix of random names
 
Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
See the above quote about Rickover. It was he who said, "Fish don't vote" and ended that tradition. But I disagree with you; the subs, being now named for states and cities, in some cases are carrying on names with great history. Of course, toward the end of the LA-class they were struggling a bit. Scranton? Boise? Toledo?

Nothing wrong with naming carriers for Presidents, I suppose. But Gerald Ford wasn't exactly one of the political giants of the 20th century, even if he was in the Navy.
 
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