Uss missouri .. Ssn-780??

[Will_T]

Boy, if only...announcing delivery of the USS Don't-Fuck-With-This-Giant-Terrorist-Killing-Ship...

I'm personally (and realistically) for naming them after old dead presidents instead of new dead presidents.

USS George Washington
USS Thomas Jefferson
USS James Madison

Authors of the values we are supposed to be supporting and defending, right? Just my take.

Gotta support you there. Have we had ships named after them?

 

[scoolbubba]

GW is a carrier. The other two, not so sure about.

 

[desertoasis]

Gotta support you there. Have we had ships named after them?

USS George Washington - (1798-1802), SSBN-598 (1959-1985), CVN-73 (currently in service)
USS Thomas Jefferson - APA-30 (1941-1949), SSBN-618 (1963-1985)
USS James Madison - SSBN-627 (1964-1992)

Many SSBNs from the late 1950s until the early 1990s were named after presidents or historical figures. Check out the George Washington-class, the Lafayette-class, the Ethan Allen-class, the James Madison-class and the Benjamin Franklin-class. They all were named for historical figures until the Ohio SSBNs started showing up and the bubbleheads started naming them after states and cities.


Sorry about the geeking out over ship names and lineages, this stuff is really fascinating to me.

 

[xj220]

I like the USS Seawolf, but the rest of the names in that class did not line up either. I can see naming carriers after presidents, but it would be cool to see another Hornet, Wasp, etc. Nautilus and Scorpion are two more names I like, but I can see some superstition coming from the latter one.

 

[Will_T]

I like this stuff too, but more of the ww2 stuff, like the battleships, cruisers and destroyers though, so i didnt know the more recent ones.

 

[helolumpy]

What I find most ironic is that President Truman cancelled the first super carrier, the USS UNITED STATES!!

Then during a Democratic administration (Thanks Bill!!) when the Navy is looking for the $7 Billion+ to build a new carrier, it's mentioned that the previous CVN were named for:
USS STENNIS a Democrat but strong advocate for the Navy carrier program
USS WASHINGTON which was also lead ship in class of first SSBN, no problems with this one.
USS LINCOLN - any questions?
USS TR former SECNAV and pushed for the Great White Fleet
USS VINSON - a Democrat who pushed through legislation that resulted in a two ocean Navy, he did more for getting us money than pretty much anyone else, ever!
USS IKE - Army sure, but he kind of ran things in Europe...
USS NIMITZ - logical choice for lead ship

After Truman we have:
USS REAGAN - Was Army in WWII but was a huge proponent of the Navy and pushed the 600 ship fleet. In his spare time defeated communism
USS BUSH - Naval Aviator in WWII and oversaw the Gulf War. Good call here.

The only thing that comes close to my heartburn with TRUMAN is the FORD. I didn't even know FORD was in the Navy until after he was dead. The issue I have with the FORD is that it will be the lead ship in the class... The FORD class????
Ford - I didn't even know Ford was in the Navy until he died...

But as much as I hate to say this, it all comes down to politics. When the Navy needs big bucks to build stuff, naming conventions become political.

One other case in point, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy has a 550 foot training ship named USTS ENTERPRISE. She was named after the first ship the school had over 100 years ago.
Well MMA is looking for about $12 million to finish the upgrades the school wants. Since the ship is owned by MARAD (federal gov't) the school has to go to Congress to get the money.
The US Rep from Cape Cod (MMA's district) is who the school lobbies for money. The Rep (Bill Delahunt - Democrat) mentions to the president of MMA that it might be nice to honor the Kennedy family by renaming the ENTERPRISE the USTS KENNEDY. This is to honor JFK, RFK, their dad who was the first chairman of MARAD, and of course Teddy.
What does a school do when it's looking for $12 mil from Uncle Sam???

 

[desertoasis]

When the Navy needs big bucks to build stuff, naming conventions become political.

THAT is the big gripe I have. Ships should be named for people who deserve to have their name on the hull. The USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001)? No problem, MOH winner, I can get behind that one without breaking a sweat. USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000)? Named after a CNO who made sweeping changes to the Navy, improved the lifestyle of the enlisted members significantly, and basically made a huge push to modernize? NOOOOOOO PROBLEM.

But Gerald Ford? Yeah he was President...but he was the only one to have never been elected to either the Presidency OR the VP offices. And yeah, he was in the Navy...for FOUR years.

States, I'm great with. Major cities, not quite as great with, but only because there's way too many to choose from and states with only one or two major cities might feel sleighted (Wyoming or Montana come to mind). Battles, absolutely. Plenty to choose from, always honorable, almost always badass sounding.

Not a big fan of the British superlatives naming scheme. Sorry, but naming a ship the HMS Invincible or the like is just asking for someone to drive up to it and sink it.

Also not really a fan of naming ships after Cabinet secretaries or Senators. Unless they're people who SHOULD have been president 200 years ago, like Alexander Hamilton or Sam Adams. I'm ok with people like that.

BUT...on that note...God help them if they try to name a new ship the USS Arizona. Some names are better left untouched.

 

[helolumpy]

USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000)? Named after a CNO who made sweeping changes to the Navy, improved the lifestyle of the enlisted members significantly, and basically made a huge push to modernize? NOOOOOOO PROBLEM.

Agreed with your thoughts that naming shouldn't be political; however in the real world, it's not going to be that way...

I find it interesting that the Navy wanted to name the DDG-1000 after Zumwalt. His biggest contribution to ship building was to move away from incredibly overpriced large capital ships and start sailing smaller vessels and have more of them.
The OHP class frigate was the direct result of this plan.
The Navy is now trying to build an incredibly complex (and EXPENSIVE) ship and name it after the man who wanted to do away with complex and expensive ships!!!
If who ever was naming ships had a sense of history, then the LCS would have been named for Zumwalt, not the next generation DDG!!

 

[Cleonard19]

BUT...on that note...God help them if they try to name a new ship the USS Arizona. Some names are better left untouched.

Concur 100000%

Not that someone won't try, but the public backlash will result in the end of their career.

 

[Shpion1]

Well, it worked. That is one nice and clean boat.

Brett

Have to agree with you there, the cleanest boat I've ever been on. the food, at least on its maiden cruise was nothing to write home about. They were pretty much apoplectic when I cut up the welds on the tables in CVIC. Something about SHIPALTS or such nonsense. I played dumb, but it sure as heck made life a lot better when I had 4 strike planning events going on at the same time.

 

[a2b2c3]

How about we start a write in campaign?

 

[Calculon]

Not that someone won't try, but the public backlash will result in the end of their career.

Someone in Congress already proposed naming the next ship after the Ford after the Arizona

I'd like to believe that we'd keep some names permanently off limits. But then again... politics has no shame

And I do agree that the Ford name just doesn't seem fitting for a new class of carriers, if indeed it is a new class. Not that I have anything personal against Ford, it just doesn't seem to quite fit when you consider its previous class, the Nimitz class was perfectly named. Then again, given how complex these carriers are, I wouldn't be surprised if the Ford were a single-ship class or just a subset of a new generation

 

[Cleonard19]

Someone in Congress already proposed naming the next ship after the Ford after the Arizona

I'd like to believe that we'd keep some names permanently off limits. But then again... politics has no shame

And I do agree that the Ford name just doesn't seem fitting for a new class of carriers, if indeed it is a new class. Not that I have anything personal against Ford, it just doesn't seem to quite fit when you consider its previous class, the Nimitz class was perfectly named. Then again, given how complex these carriers are, I wouldn't be surprised if the Ford were a single-ship class or just a subset of a new generation

That blows my mind. But being talked about, and coming to fruition is two different things. 'm sure many of the 7mil Navy/Marine Corps Vets as well as the American Legion and VFW will make their voices known on this matter.

 

[PR1 H]

You know, I can see it now. The SWO's and QM's on the Ford are going to try and get patches ¨Have you driven a Ford lately?¨

 

[Pags]

HMS Invincible?

Sometimes just wishful thinking: