We had a discussion about ship naming in the thread on the USS Lyndon Baines Johnson and I thought I would post a link to this lovely article by the Naval Historical Center, which pulls in (among others) Alfred the Great:
As if to emphasize the ties that many Americans still felt to Britain, the first ship of the new Continental Navy was named Alfred in honor of Alfred the Great, the king of Wessex who is credited with building the first English naval force. Another ship was named Raleigh to commemorate the seagoing exploits of Sir Walter Raleigh. Some ships honored early patriots and heroes (Hancock and General Greene). Others commemorated the young nation’s ideals and institutions (Constitution, Independence, Congress). A 74-gun ship-of-the-line, launched in 1782 and donated to the French Navy on completion, was named America. A Revolutionary War frigate named Bourbon saluted the King of France, whose alliance would further the cause of American independence. Other ship names honored American places (Boston, Virginia). Small warships– brigs and schooners–bore a variety of names. Some were named for positive character traits (Enterprise, Diligent). Others had classical names (Syren, Argus) or names of small creatures with a potent sting (Hornet, Wasp).
Still hoping for a USS Ethelred the Unready.
The Edge of the American West 
24 comments
April 25, 2012 at 11:29 am
Erin Hoagland
I thought my father and I were the only ones who wished for more public homage to Ethelred the Unready.
April 25, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Dave
Medal of Honor winners! Medal of Honor winners! Medal of mmph, hrmph, mmuummuumm, thud…
April 25, 2012 at 12:56 pm
rea
I suspect that everyone knos this already, but of course, “Ethelred the Unready” is a mistranslation–it ought to be something like “Ethelred the Badly-Advised.”
April 25, 2012 at 12:57 pm
JWL
Why not use celebrated quotations from great Americans to name some ships? Who wouldn’t want to see a USS “What? Me Worry”?
April 25, 2012 at 1:04 pm
silbey
@Erin Everyone should be in favor of more Ethelred.
@rea I know, but the mistranslation is so much more interesting.
@JWL I’m all in favor. The USS Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself, the USS Ask Not, the USS Last Full Measure, the USS I’ll Have What She’s Having (logistics ship)
April 25, 2012 at 2:09 pm
rea
the mistranslation is so much more interesting.
Aethelraed Unraed is a better pun, though.
April 25, 2012 at 2:12 pm
rea
As to quotations, the possibilities are endless: USS I Am Not A Crook, USS I Did Not Have Sex With That Woman, USS Heckuva Job Brownie . . .
April 25, 2012 at 2:45 pm
silbey
The key is getting the chunk of the quote used exactly right. USS Meaning Of The Word Is Is, USS Bring Them On, USS Decider.
April 25, 2012 at 3:03 pm
rea
Oh, the possibilities are endless: USS They Never Stop Thinking About New Ways to Harm our Country and Our People, and Neither do We. USS Don’t Misunderestimate Me USS Fool Me Twice–Don’t Get Fooled Again
April 25, 2012 at 3:38 pm
Mark Lafue
The USS Four A.M. Phone Call.
April 25, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Don Dresser
Somehow, this thread seems to need a reference to Iain M Banks, the culture, and the names of those ships. If you don’t know them – check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_of_the_Culture_setting
April 25, 2012 at 4:22 pm
JWL
I am currently on a ‘U.S. Naval Operations During WW2’ kick. Over the past few months I’ve read Ian Toll’s wonderful history of the carriers during 1941-1942, as well as Neptunes Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, by James D. Hornfischer’s.
Morrison’s opus aside, can anyone recommend a few other titles?
April 26, 2012 at 5:57 am
silbey
@JWL Anything by John Lundstrom, Parshall’s work on Midway, Gordon Prange’s books (corrected by Parshall for Midway), anything by HP Willmott but especially his book on Leyte, Miller’s book on War Plan Orange, Frank’s book on Guadalcanal. That’ll be a good start.
April 26, 2012 at 9:03 am
jroth95
How does Guadalcanal Diary hold up, anyway? I read it in 3rd or 4th grade, and have no idea if it has any value at all.
April 26, 2012 at 9:36 am
silbey
@jroth95 Guadalcanal Diary holds up pretty well. Along with Sledge’s With the Old Breed, it’s one of the best first person accounts of the Pacific War.
April 26, 2012 at 9:37 am
foolishmortal
One could use qualities associated with a particular president, as in USS Normalcy or USS Malaise.
April 26, 2012 at 10:18 am
ajay
Why, a nation asks, has there not been another USS Bourbon? Task Force Bourbon!
Plus, there are already affiliation links between cities and ships – so the USS Asheville has a special relationship with the city of Asheville, and so on. If you had Bourbon-class frigates they could have corporate sponsorship. USS Jack Daniels.
April 26, 2012 at 10:20 am
ajay
Why not use celebrated quotations from great Americans to name some ships? Who wouldn’t want to see a USS “What? Me Worry”?
I think I suggested using the amendments to the Constitution in a previous thread: USS Freedom of Conscience, USS Emancipation, USS Right to Bear Arms, USS Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
April 26, 2012 at 10:49 am
JWL
Much obliged. Fact is, WW2 has long been a favorite area of study of mine. I long ago read Guadalcanal Diary, for example, and finally read With The Old Breed after watching the film adaption.
(I don’t know why, but I had always passed on Breed. I had read Coral Comes High, which introduced me to the hell that was Peleliu, and various other accounts of the war as waged by the 1st Marines. But not Breed, which is absolutely one of the finest books that will be written of the War in the Pacific).
Which is to say, I already possess a pretty decent understanding of the Big Picture.
But I always shied away from accounts of naval operations (again, as opposed to the land battles the fleets supported) because it’s far more difficult for me to envision operations at sea. So in that sense, I’m back at the drawing board (when I first got hooked on WW2, I didn’t know the difference between a battalion and division). I’m looking forward to my forthcoming education. Thanks again.
April 26, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Joan Novick
Kilroy was here
April 27, 2012 at 1:42 am
ajay
“Kilroy was here”
First ship on Mars, according to Heinlein…
April 27, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Drouse
Ethelred the Unready
Wouldn’t that be the George W. Bush?
April 27, 2012 at 10:11 pm
TF Smith
Battles and famous warships. States. Cities. Naval Heroes. Fishies. Birdies. Animals. Stars. Counties.
Not that hard, really.
USS Skeered-o-Nuthin’ was, in fact, advanced semi-seriously, once upon a time.
If the taxpayer pays for it, and Joe and Jane Q. Public make up provide the crew, someone other than the political favor of the month should be honored, I think…but that’s obviously just me.
Morre seriously, as far as the series go, the official histories, beyond SE Morison, are often over-looked; there is a lot of meat in the Naval Administrative Histories that has gone untapped, and the Green Books produced by the team originally put together by Kent Roberts Greenfield’s team over the years is phenomenal. John Miller’s Guadalcanal from the Army series is a good comparison with Morison’s Vol. V., as is Hough et al’s “Pearl Harbor to Guadacanal.” Craven & Cate is worth reading as well, to get the AAF’s version of events. Probably the cleanest summary of grand strategy are the two “Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare” volumes by Matloff, and Louis Morton’s “Strategy and Command: The First Two Years” in the Pacific War sub-series.
In general, on the naval war and the Pacific, American authors worth considering are Cutler, Hagan, Potter, Buell, Blair, Edward Miller, Bergerud, Mason, Ruhe, Frank, Runyan, Dull, Prados, and Evans & Peattie.
Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Dutch, and Commonwealth authors are an entire different roster.
April 29, 2012 at 12:32 pm
grackle
From today’s SFChronicle :In the Navy: Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of San Diego has certainly got folks talking with his letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus urging them to name a ship after slain San Francisco Supervisor and gay activist Harvey Milk.
For years, after all, San Francisco’s gay community was none too welcoming of the Navy, because of the military’s longtime ban on openly gay service members.
But Filner says naming a ship after Milk – who served as a Navy officer in the 1950s – would promote equity in the military after the recent repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
“I’m intrigued,” said state Assemblyman and Milk protege Tom Ammiano. “If it did happen, we would have to have the Village People at the christening.”