The naming of United States Navy vessels after living people was common in the earliest years of American history, but as the 20th century began, the Navy had firmly established a practice of naming ships for people only after they had died. [1] In 1969, a Navy panel formally decreed that warships would no longer be named after living persons. [1]
That lasted until 1974, when President Richard Nixon announced the naming of an aircraft carrier after United States Representative Carl Vinson. [1] Over the next half-century, the Navy named more ships for living people than it had in the previous two centuries. From October 2020 to March 2023, the Navy named a ship for a living person every eight months, a pace unseen since 1776.
U.S. Navy ships are named by the Secretary of the Navy under U.S. law, explicitly until 1925 and implicitly since. [2]
No ships were named for living former Navy secretaries until 2001; since then, every Navy secretary save one has named a warship for a living predecessor, accounting for more than one-quarter of the ships they named for living people. [3]
No one has named more U.S. ships for living people than Ray Mabus, who did so eight times during his service as secretary from 2009 to 2017. "I think it's...important, when we can, to honor people who are still with us and thank them for what they did," Mabus said in 2016. [4]
The U.S. Navy generally announces the name of a ship some time before it is launched, and well before it is accepted for purchase and commissioned into active service.
The following ships received their names while their namesakes were alive. The list includes several ships whose namesakes died before the ships were commissioned.
USS Washington may refer to:
Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and, as of 2023, is the largest private employer in Mississippi.
Fleet Week is a United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard tradition in which active military ships recently deployed in overseas operations dock in a variety of major cities for one week. Once the ships dock, the crews can enter the city and visit its tourist attractions. At certain hours, the public can take a guided tour of the ships. Often, Fleet Week is accompanied by military demonstrations and air shows such as those provided by the Blue Angels.
USS Roosevelt (DDG-80) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in service with the United States Navy. She is named in honor of both President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife, the then-First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. This ship is the 30th destroyer of her class. USS Roosevelt was the 13th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and construction began on 15 December 1997. She was launched on 10 January 1999 and was christened on 23 January 1999. On 14 October 2000 the commissioning ceremony was held at Naval Station Mayport, Florida.
Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about 4 miles (6.4 km) of waterfront space and 11 miles (18 km) of pier and wharf space of the Hampton Roads peninsula known as Sewell's Point. It is the world's largest naval station, with the largest concentration of U.S. Navy forces through 75 ships alongside 14 piers and with 134 aircraft and 11 aircraft hangars at the adjacently operated Chambers Field. Port Services controls more than 3,100 ships' movements annually as they arrive and depart their berths.
The Battenberg Cup is an award given annually as a symbol of operational excellence to the best ship or submarine in the United States Navy Atlantic Fleet. The cup was originally awarded as a trophy to the winner of cutter or longboat rowing competitions between crews of American and British naval ships. In more recent years it has been presented to the Battle Efficiency "E" winner selected as the best all-around ship of the Fleet based on crew achievements. These include performance in competition for Atlantic Fleet Sportsmanship Award, TYCOM Sailor of the Year Award, Golden Anchor Award, Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial Award, and command excellence awards. Other information, such as operating schedules, commitments and unusual factors contributing to the nomination may also be considered.
United States ship naming conventions for the U.S. Navy were established by congressional action at least as early as 1862. Title 13, section 1531, of the U.S. Code, enacted in that year, reads, in part,
The vessels of the Navy shall be named by the Secretary of the Navy under direction of the President according to the following rule: Sailing-vessels of the first class shall be named after the States of the Union, those of the second class after the rivers, those of the third class after the principal cities and towns and those of the fourth class as the President may direct.
USS Washington (SSN-787) is a Virginia-class nuclear powered attack submarine of the United States Navy. The contract to build her was awarded to Huntington Ingalls Industries in partnership with the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics in Newport News, Virginia, on 22 December 2008. This boat is the fourth of the Block III submarines which will feature a revised bow, including some technology from Ohio-class SSGNs. Construction began on 2 September 2011 at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. On 13 April 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, announced SSN-787 would be named after the State of Washington, which was celebrated during a naming ceremony in Seattle on 7 February 2013. The Navy christened Washington on 5 March 2016, during a ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia.
USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer of the United States Navy. Ralph Johnson is the 64th ship of the class and was commissioned on 24 March 2018.
USS John Finn (DDG-113) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in service with the United States Navy. The contract to build her was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 15 June 2011. Ingalls has been a subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) since its acquisition in April 2001. Prior to the award, Ingalls had constructed 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, the last one of which was USS William P. Lawrence. On 15 February 2011, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the ship's name to be John Finn after John William Finn, the first Medal of Honor recipient of World War II. He was so honored for machine-gunning Japanese warplanes for over two hours during the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor despite being shot in the foot and shoulder, and suffering numerous shrapnel wounds. He retired as a lieutenant after thirty years of service and died at age 100 in 2010.
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The $663 million contract to build her was awarded on 28 February 2012, to Bath Iron Works, of Bath, Maine. On 7 May 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the ship name would be named Thomas Hudner in honor of U.S. naval aviator Thomas Hudner, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in trying to save the life of his wingman, Ensign Jesse L. Brown, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, in the Korean War.
USS Carl M. Levin (DDG-120) is a United States Navy Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer, the 70th overall for the class. The ship is named for Carl Levin, a former United States Senator and Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services.
USS John Basilone (DDG-122) is a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke–class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. The 72nd ship in the class, she is named for United States Marine Corps Gunnery sergeant John Basilone, who received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award for valor, for actions during the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific War. Basilone was the only enlisted Marine to receive both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross during World War II.
USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, first of the Flight III variants and 75th overall in the class. She is named after then-Marine Corps Private First Class, later United States Army captain Jacklyn H. Lucas, recipient of the Medal of Honor. On 17 September 2016, she was named by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.
In 1989, the United States Navy was on the verge of massive cuts to military spending including ship and aircraft procurement. These forces were expected to fight the Soviet Union, Warsaw Pact and other potential adversaries in case of a war breaking out. At this time, the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) of the Pacific Fleet was out of commission for Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) modernization leaving the 3rd Fleet with less carriers.