USS Bubba? |
Current American aircraft carriers are named for United States Presidents, living and dead, or political and naval leaders of some importance. In the former category, we have the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Ronald Reagan (named when Reagan was still alive), the USS Harry S Truman, and others. In the latter, we have the USS Nimitz (named for the most important American admiral of WWII), the USS John C. Stennis (a Senator critical to the Navy over several decades), and the USS Carl Vinson (a Congressman of similar ilk).
They’re running out of recent Presidents to name them, though. The lead ship (CVN-78) of the new carrier class (successors to the Nimitz class) was named the USS Gerald R. Ford. Ford had naval connections, but not a particularly successful Presidency. The next ship in that class (CVN-79) has been named the USS John F. Kennedy, a quick reuse of that name as the previous Kennedy was retired in 2007. The next ship remains unnamed. There is some pressure to name it the Enterprise, a name with a long and storied history in the American navy. But if not that, then the Navy would likely have to return to the list of Presidents. They’ve cherry-picked the great ones–there’s a Roosevelt (thought not an FDR), there’s a Washington, and there’s a Lincoln–so going to the distant past would be somewhat difficult. USS Martin van Buren, anyone?
I didn’t think so.
There are recent Presidents without carriers named after them, however. Lyndon Baines Johnson has no carrier, nor does Jimmy Carter (he does have a submarine named after him, perhaps appropriate for him since he served on submarines), nor does Bill Clinton, or Richard Nixon. I note that these are all (but Nixon) Democrats. I also note that both Johnson and Clinton were two-term Presidents, that Carter was a naval officer, and that Johnson was a member of the Naval reserve with a Silver Star to his name (albeit, oddly, an Army Silver Star). Clinton had a somewhat difficult relationship with the military, both before and during his Presidency. Johnson has Vietnam, and the Gulf of Tonkin. Nixon has his disgrace. Carter was not a great President.
None of those are particularly disqualifying. Ford was not a good President, and he has an entire class named after him. George H.W. Bush served a single term and, with the exception of the Gulf War, had few notable successes (*not* being Ronald Reagan could be counted as a success for many, I think). So the question becomes: what will CVN-80 be? The USS Lyndon Baines Johnson? The USS William Jefferson Clinton? The USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) will still be active, so it can’t be that. I personally think it should be Johnson, but the USS William Jefferson Clinton would cause right-wing heads everywhere to explode with massive force, which has its own appeal.
Current Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has shown a willingness to give ships names that break from the expected (the USS Gabrielle Giffords and the USNS Cesar Chavez for example) and so perhaps he will step up.
77 comments
March 6, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Ben
First time hearing about the Cesar Chavez. That’s pretty awesome. And I like how the Giffords promotes a kind of unified kinship across disparate parts of the government, which is one of the few redeeming qualities of patriotism.
Moar unik batlship namz, pleez.
March 6, 2012 at 2:48 pm
guan
As Robert Caro explained in Means of Ascent, he earned an Army Silver Star on a bomber mission by the Army Air Forces flying out of Australia.
March 6, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Bill Harshaw
How about the John S. McCain, I,II, III? The good Senator gets his family immortalized and in return promises to vote for all Obama’s judicial nominees and not to raise too much hell about DOD budget cuts.
March 6, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Spike
How about we just stop building so many damned aircraft carriers?
March 6, 2012 at 3:18 pm
jim
The first carrier named after a president was USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. It’s been a generation since it was scrapped. Perhaps it’s time to reuse the name.
March 6, 2012 at 3:27 pm
silbey
@ben And you can imagine what Chavez did to right wing blood pressures.
@guan: Thanks!
@Bill There’s already a shipped named for McCain I, a Burke-class destroyer (DDG-56)
@Spike But they only cost $15 billion each!
@jim That’s such an oddity, as there was a carrier named after a President of the Continental Congress before there was one named after a President of the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Randolph_(CV-15)
March 6, 2012 at 5:19 pm
beamish
Chester A. Arthur presided over the founding of the new navy (also: cleaned up the civil service and good on Chinese immigration).
Rickover is the obvious recent admiral. If you’re going to name a ship after a virtue like ‘Enterprise’ then Courage and Justice are good ones.
March 6, 2012 at 6:02 pm
silbey
Arthur’s a good one; Rickover already has a ship.
March 6, 2012 at 6:25 pm
beamish
Are you sure? SSN-709 was decommissioned in 2006.
March 6, 2012 at 6:43 pm
silbey
Apparently no, I’m not sure.
March 6, 2012 at 8:15 pm
saintneko
Well, it’s got that… shape, and it’s undoubtedly got a low-friction interface with the water, so why not go with derogatory nickname people gave Clinton for being a smooth talker, the “USS Slick Willie?”
March 6, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Ben
Then if it sinks they can take the unprecedented but absolutely necessary next step and re-name it the USS Vince Foster.
March 7, 2012 at 1:59 am
Dave
How about the USS Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison? or the Benjamin Franklin? Since the country is in an originalist mood, you could go for the man who actually wrote the Constitution, and have the USS Gouverneur Morris…
March 7, 2012 at 3:36 am
erubin
And I like how the Giffords promotes a kind of unified kinship across disparate parts of the government, which is one of the few redeeming qualities of patriotism.
I find it ironic that we would name an instrument of war after a woman who is most notable on the national scene for being shot in the head.
How about the John S. McCain, I,II, III? The good Senator gets his family immortalized and in return promises to vote for all Obama’s judicial nominees and not to raise too much hell about DOD budget cuts.
Getting closer…
How about we just stop building so many damned aircraft carriers?
Ding ding ding! We have a winner!
A friend of mine recently pointed out to me that no other country comes close to American naval superiority. I’m a little surprised to see Italy and Spain with two each. Of course, the largest in their combined fleet is the Principe de Asturias with a complement of just 830. Compare that with the George H. W. Bush’s crew of 5680. As my friend so glibly put it, if a single carrier were sunk, the casualties would exceed those of the Iraq War.
March 7, 2012 at 3:40 am
mike shupp
USS LBJ works for me. The founder of The Great Society deserves a few tokens of respect.
March 7, 2012 at 6:55 am
rea
John McCain already has a destroyer named after his father and grandfather. FDR can’t get a carrier, because it would be too confusing–there is already a carrier named after the other Roosevelt. Franklin had a WWII-era carrier–although it was technically named after an earlier ship named after Franklin. Enterprise is another old ship name, rather than being named after a quality. Jefferson probably won’t do, as he was hostile to the concept of an ocean-going navy.
Naming them after old ships and battles worked well–don’t know why, other than politics, it was abandoned.
March 7, 2012 at 7:01 am
ajay
“If you’re going to name a ship after a virtue like ‘Enterprise’ then Courage and Justice are good ones.”
At Salamis the Athenian flagships were named not after people but after virtues that the Athenians ranked highly: Eleutheria, Parrhesia, Demokratia. (Freedom, Free Speech, Democracy). This would be an excellent model to follow.
So, as beamish suggests, that could give you Enterprise, Liberty, Equality, Justice and so on.
Or, given its importance, maybe name carriers after after parts of the Constitution?
The USS Right to Bear Arms. The USS Cruel and Unusual Punishment. The USS Emancipation of Slaves.The USS Wall of Separation.
March 7, 2012 at 7:04 am
ajay
(insert joke about USS Taft here)
March 7, 2012 at 7:15 am
eric
after parts of the Constitution?
Or we could name them after regrettable Supreme Court decisions. The Dred Scott. The Slaughterhouse. The Plessy. The Thind.
March 7, 2012 at 7:16 am
rea
maybe name carriers after after parts of the Constitution?
President, Congress, Constitution, United States, Constellation (for the flag)? It’s been done . . .
March 7, 2012 at 7:34 am
ajay
Most of those aren’t available right now though, rea. “Constellation” is a good name but doesn’t have much to do with treasured American values or principles.
Or we could name them after regrettable Supreme Court decisions. The Dred Scott. The Slaughterhouse. The Plessy. The Thind.
Close to naming them after memorable opponents of the Civil Rights Act, which has already been done (Vinson, Stennis).
Or what could be a more memorable symbol of America worldwide than Oscar winners! USS Godfather, USS Silence of the Lambs, USS Braveheart. Maybe not the USS Titanic or the USS Forrest Gump though.
March 7, 2012 at 8:22 am
silbey
(insert joke about USS Taft here)
The USS Taft wouldn’t fit through the Panama Canal.
March 7, 2012 at 8:56 am
John Healy
Constellation is a great name. I figure it represents the states; all those stars. Enterprise is the most famous ship in our history. Hence my vote. Having said that, how about the USS Dolly Madison? She rescued George Washington’s picture from the White House before the British burned it.
March 7, 2012 at 9:04 am
rea
“Constellation” was an explicit reference to the first flag statute, passed by the Continental Congress in 1777: “Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” So, the “treasured American values or principles” represented by the name would be the union of states.
March 7, 2012 at 9:41 am
ajay
Rea: thanks, I stand corrected.
March 7, 2012 at 9:45 am
John Healy
@ rea: Thanks, good to know.
March 7, 2012 at 9:46 am
Andre Mayer
George H.W. Bush wasn’t all that bad a President (though I voted against him twice). And he was not only a Navy veteran, but a Navy aviator. Finally, by naming a carrier for him, the Navy can defer for decades the potentially controversial issue of naming one for his son.
March 7, 2012 at 9:58 am
rbh
The time has come to sell naming rights to Navy ships. How about the USS Comcast? USS Office Depot? USS 1-800-Ask Gary?
March 7, 2012 at 10:11 am
kevin
The USS Curtis Mayfield.
March 7, 2012 at 10:24 am
Dave
Or the USS Curtis LeMay, which would be one in the eye for somebody…
March 7, 2012 at 10:32 am
eric
Enterprise is the most famous ship in our history
And our future!
March 7, 2012 at 10:36 am
rea
Actually, Constitution is the most famous ship in our history, but the name is still taken by the original.
March 7, 2012 at 11:06 am
Spike
Are the USS Burger King and USS Tostidos taken?
March 7, 2012 at 6:31 pm
chris
If they’re running out of presidents, why not lay off the presidents for a while? Surely they can’t be running out of admirals with significant accomplishments…
March 7, 2012 at 7:45 pm
beamish
There already is an aircraft carrier named after G.H.W. Bush. These are current:
Enterprise (CVN-65)
Nimitz (CVN-68)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
Carl Vinson (CVN-70)
Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
George Washington (CVN-73)
John C. Stennis (CVN-74)
Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)
Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)
George H.W. Bush (CVN-77)
These are under construction:
Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)
John F. Kennedy (CVN-79)
Arthur, then Monroe, I say.
March 7, 2012 at 8:00 pm
silbey
There already is an aircraft carrier named after G.H.W. Bush
Uh, yes, we knew.
March 8, 2012 at 5:28 am
ajay
Surely they can’t be running out of admirals with significant accomplishments…
Actually, they may well be, because so many of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers have been named after admirals. USS Spruance, USS McCain, USS Mitscher, USS Hopper and so on.
March 8, 2012 at 5:41 am
Dave
Arthur, then Monroe, I say.
Miller and Marilyn? Now that I’d pay to see.
March 8, 2012 at 5:46 am
beamish
Uh, yes, we knew.
I thought Andre Mayer was making a suggestion.
March 8, 2012 at 6:32 am
silbey
I took it to mean that since the Navy had already named a carrier after the Senior Bush, that they wouldn’t have to name one after the junior one for quite a while.
March 8, 2012 at 7:50 am
Anderson
If “wingnut heads exploding” is a factor, then the U.S.S. Saul Alinsky is a good one.
… Any Navy vessels ever named after Supreme Court justices? The John Marshall would be cool.
March 8, 2012 at 12:05 pm
rea
The John Marshall would be cool.
He got a sub–SSBN 611
March 8, 2012 at 12:42 pm
Ralph Hitchens
What’s wrong with Theodore Roosevelt or James Madison? And some kind of ship should be named for Harriet Tubman.
March 8, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Richard J
Why not? As I pointed out at Blood and Treasure recently, they did name a SSBN after Will Rogers…
March 8, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Mark
It seems unfortunate that a nation should have so many warships that it should struggle to find sufficient heroes after which to name them.
March 8, 2012 at 2:26 pm
silbey
@Mark Rather the opposite. There are more than 1000 sailors and Marines who got the Medal of Honor. There aren’t enough ships to name them all after an MOH winner, so who do we leave out.
March 8, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Mark
Well, I’ll admit to and apologize for attempting to be more clever than I could reasonably have hoped to have achieved, given the company. I was thinking more in terms of civic heroes, and it does seem somewhat unfortunate that so many of the obvious options should be eliminated as politically unacceptable or the cause of partisan head-explosions. Surely even lousy Presidents were once Heads of States and Bearers of the Sacred Trust of the American People (those are only semi-irony caps).
Besides, there are tactical advantages to exercising less ethical discretion in who are so honored. Think: were you an enemy military commander, would you not be absolutely terrified to have the USS Richard Nixon bearing down on you?
March 8, 2012 at 8:34 pm
chris
There are more than 1000 sailors and Marines who got the Medal of Honor. There aren’t enough ships to name them all after an MOH winner, so who do we leave out.
Start with the first person ever to be awarded the medal and keep going in chronological order until someone dares to say you should stop? Everyone will get their turn eventually but you start with people who have been dead for centuries and are immune to criticism (well, as heroes they’re all pretty hard to criticize, but Revolutionary War heroes are even more so). And whoever does want to stop has to face the family of the person whose name would have been up next.
March 9, 2012 at 3:42 am
Dave
You do end up with an awful lot of ships named after soldiers. Which is OK occasionally, but rather odd as a principle.
March 9, 2012 at 8:27 am
ajay
Dave: I think the plan was to limit it to sailors and Marines, which makes sense; also avoids having to name ships after unpleasant types like, frex, Lt John Gresham or Pte Thomas Sullivan.
And would still allow head-exploding choices like the USS Smedley Butler.
What’s wrong with Theodore Roosevelt or James Madison? And some kind of ship should be named for Harriet Tubman.
Madison was the idiot who got the country into an entirely avoidable war with the world’s only superpower and got his house burned down as a result, IIRC.
Tubman, yes. In fact you could go for a whole class: USS Tubman, USS Douglass, USS Turner, USS Langston…
March 9, 2012 at 8:52 am
silbey
USS Malcolm X would be awesome.
March 9, 2012 at 10:49 am
ajay
It would at the very least have awesome caps for its crew – just a big “X” and the hull number – and an awesome ship’s motto. “By Any Means Necessary”.
March 9, 2012 at 10:50 am
ajay
Though the USS Smedley Butler could have “Gangsta For Capitalism” which would be pretty good too.
March 9, 2012 at 10:59 am
TF Smith
Actually, there has been a USS Butler (DD-636/DMS-29)
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-b/dd636.htm
There is actually the potential for an exellent thesis or even a dissertation on the USN nomenclature system has changed from what was actually a pretty impressive piece of organizational culture in the first half of the 20th Century to what it is today, on the basis of political pressure and technological change.
The historical memory element – the naming of SSBNs 601, 602, 631, 634, and 636, in particular, in context against the era in which they were commissioned – would be worth a thesis in itself.
Best,
March 9, 2012 at 11:00 am
AcademicLurker
Did Halsey ever get a carrier named after him? Seems like an obvious choice.
March 9, 2012 at 11:19 am
silbey
Halsey had a carrier named after him, but it kept getting distracted by distant targets and letting other enemies slip by.
March 9, 2012 at 11:22 am
AcademicLurker
Halsey had a carrier named after him, but it kept getting distracted by distant targets and letting other enemies slip by.
Then it sank in a typhoon…
March 9, 2012 at 11:30 am
silbey
Then it sank in a typhoon
Hah! Indeed.
March 9, 2012 at 5:26 pm
TF Smith
So in a world where Spruance and the 5th fleet staff is off planning for Luzon and/or the Bonins, but Halsey is not assigned to command the 3rd, who leads 3rd Fleet for Leyte?
Nimitz, obvioulsy, was a theater commander, and Kinkaid would be busy enough with the 7th Fleet; JH Towers is about the only individual in the Pacific with the seniority I can think of, since Ingersoll was still CinCLANT through to November, before he got the Western Sea Frontier billet.
I suppose someone can suggest that Lee, Turner, McCain, or Mitscher could have moved up to 3rd Fleet, but I don’t think any of them were as senior as Spruance was by the fall of 1944…
And I’m not sure how Towers would have handled the dual threats from Kurita to the west and Ozawa to the north; it is entirely conceivable he would have made similar choices to Halsey.
Best,
March 9, 2012 at 6:34 pm
silbey
TF, I’m not clear on your point?
March 10, 2012 at 10:18 am
TF Smith
I dunno, trying to ask a semi-serious question?
Nimitz needed two fleet commanders in 1944, because of the tempo of operations; if not Halsey and Spruance, then who?
March 10, 2012 at 10:37 am
Matt McKeon
USS Politics by Other Means (I stole this idea)
USS John Adams? Undeclared naval war with France(navy connection), then best of all, managed to prevent a big war with France! Did he authorize the first frigates, or was that Washington?
March 10, 2012 at 1:47 pm
silbey
Nimitz needed two fleet commanders in 1944, because of the tempo of operations; if not Halsey and Spruance, then who?
I don’t think anyone suggested that it shouldn’t be Halsey and Spruance. We were simply mocking Halsey for his mistakes. Those aren’t the same things.
March 10, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Josh
USS Politics by Other Means (I stole this idea)
If we start naming ships in the same style as the Culture, this thread will never end.
March 10, 2012 at 3:28 pm
silbey
USS Monroe Doctrine; USS Manifest Destiny
March 10, 2012 at 4:15 pm
kevin
How about the Ed Hardy Class?
USS You Want a Piece of This?, USS You Talkin’ to Me?, USS Come at Me, Bro! …
March 10, 2012 at 8:32 pm
dilbert dogbert
I came late to the party so I only have a tidbit: Ford served aboard the USS Monterrey, a “jeep” carrier, built on a cruiser hull. My father in law served also on the Monterrey. The FIL said the Monterrey experience in the Typhoon off Okinawa was the background story for the Caine Mutiny.
March 10, 2012 at 10:35 pm
TF Smith
The light fleet carrier USS Monterey (CVL-26) was named after the action involving the city in California; one “r”…
See:
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/m14/monterey-iii.htm
“Jeep” carrier was generally a reference to the escort carriers (CVEs) built on freighter or tanker hulls (C3s and T3s); not fast carriers like the CVs and CVLs.
Best,
March 11, 2012 at 1:44 am
allium
No discussion of ships’ names is complete without The Culture’s take – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_of_the_Culture_setting
March 11, 2012 at 12:58 pm
yorksranter
Why does Electric Brain (damn, if I could pick my nickname…) Spruance only get a DDG? And if you’re accepting Marines, surely USS Brute Krulak would be suitably fear-inspiring. Although perhaps that one should be saved for a Gator.
March 11, 2012 at 1:00 pm
yorksranter
Meanwhile, perhaps they could name a rock or iceberg after George W. Bush.
March 11, 2012 at 2:18 pm
Moby Hick
Can’t we just use the names of the other car rental companies?
March 11, 2012 at 2:23 pm
TF Smith
Speaking of which:
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/10/148375398/famed-uss-enterprise-takes-its-final-voyage
The most appropriate thing to do would be to use the decommissioning of Enterprise to re-name them all, from CVN-68 onward, with the “famour sailing warships and US battles” precedents already used, and re-naming the assault carriers (LHA/LHD) and cruisers (CG) as appropriately, and any others in conflict, as well.
America, United States, Constitution, Constellation, Congress, President, Chesapeake, Independence, Intrepid, Ranger, Reprisal, Boxer, Bonhomme Richard, Enterprise, Essex, Wasp, Hornet, Lexington, Saratoga, Yorktown, Bunker Hill, etc.
The “elected officials” concept is a little too Bismarckian or Petr Veliki-ish, for my taste…
And distinguished (and deceased) naval personnel (Chester W. Nimitz, etc.) should be more approrpriately honored with destroyers and escorts.
Best,
March 12, 2012 at 2:41 am
ajay
And if you’re accepting Marines, surely USS Brute Krulak would be suitably fear-inspiring.
Though I defy anyone to keep a straight face on encountering the USS Chesty Puller. Especially if sailing in company with the USS Ponce.
March 12, 2012 at 2:53 am
rea
USS Monterey (CVL-26) was named after the action involving the city in California
More likely after the much larger battle won by Zach Taylor
March 12, 2012 at 3:32 am
yorksranter
I can imagine Constitution being suitably republican with a small “r”, but would you get aboard a ship named Congress?
March 12, 2012 at 4:44 am
silbey
More likely after the much larger battle won by Zach Taylor
No, it’s the city. The big battle won by Taylor was at Monterrey, not Monterey.