Rontini Submarine BBS Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > General > U.S. Submarine Related
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Naming of Ships
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

"The opinions posted here do not represent those of any company, organization, or group and are those only of the author of the respective post." - From Rontini

RontiniSubmarineBBS.com is proudly sponsored by Submarine Shop for Submariners. Your patronage helps support this BBS.

At Ron's direction, we have removed all forums that were not being actively posted to.


Naming of Ships

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
Rontini599 View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 23 Aug 2016
Location: Sheridan, WY
Status: Offline
Points: 706
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rontini599 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Naming of Ships
    Posted: 07 Oct 2020 at 1:24pm
Read this and then the important part is my idea below. 

SNS Maury, an oceanographic survey ship named after Matthew Fontaine Maury, who served as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory and later joined the Confederate Navy.”

Two aircraft carriers are named for Members of Congress—USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). Some observers have raised the issue of whether CVN-74 should be renamed on account of Senator Stennis’s positions on segregation and civil rights. A July 13, 2020, press report states that U.S. Navy officials have “discussed renaming two aircraft carriers named after Southern U.S. legislators who advocated racial segregation: the USS John C. Stennis and USS Carl Vinson. Within the military, the Stennis has been nicknamed ‘Johnny Reb,’ a common nickname for Confederate soldiers.”

For ship types now being procured for the Navy, or recently procured for the Navy, naming rules can be summarized as follows:

  • SSBN-826, the first of the Navy’s new ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) has been named Columbia in honor of the District of Columbia, but the Navy has not stated what the naming rule for these ships will be.

I don't have a problem with The "Columbia."  What I don't want is to name them after politicians!
I think we have exhausted the "fish" naming, cities, and states.  Why not name them for heroes of the Submarine Service?  Starting with the Medal of Honor winners.  Yes, I know 2 "Targets" have already been named for O'kane and Ramage.  That leaves 7 more and then there are several who have earned Navy Crosses for their work. 

What this is going to take is emails to your Reps and Senators telling them your thought that the crew of boats would rather serve on a boat named for a hero rather than a person or geographic area not associated with submarines. 
My heroes wear dog tags, not shoulder pads
Back to Top
SaltiDawg View Drop Down
Rickover
Rickover
Avatar

Joined: 03 Jan 2016
Location: Rockville, MD
Status: Offline
Points: 2865
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SaltiDawg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Oct 2020 at 1:36pm
There are literally hundreds of previously used "fish" names that have been used for Submarine Names. In some cases, the second time a name was used they added a "II" to the second boat's name - at least in usage. More typically, they just re-used the name.

I wish that this was still the practice.



Edited by SaltiDawg - 07 Oct 2020 at 2:03pm
Back to Top
gerry View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 16 Dec 2015
Status: Offline
Points: 634
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gerry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Oct 2020 at 2:17pm
Cities, States, and Statesmen/Generals/Politicians have all been used for Submarines as well as targets, but as far as I know, Sea-Life names have only been used for submarines (I'm probably wrong about this, but none come to mind). When you hear USS Skate or USS Shark, you KNOW it's a submarine.

I'd be happy with sea-life names for boats going forward, but I'm tired of Cities, States, and Political figures. Also agree with Ron, MOH winners would be cool as well. 

Can you imagine being a young squid entering the force in a few years and getting orders to USS Tang?  Built-in history and memorialization, sailors could be PROUD of their ships' names. Seems like it would be a morale booster. 

Other, less desirable options:
- Explorers (connection to the sea) USS Magellan, USS Robert Falcon Scott, USS Roald Amundsen
- Scientists (ok, that's a longshot) USS Copernicus, USS Curie, USS Albert Einstein
- Mythology heroes/gods - USS Hercules, USS Artemis, USS Apollo

I think MOH winners is perfectly valid, but *I* would like to see a return to "fish" names, even if (or especially if) they were recycled names from our Naval history. 
MT2/SS
USS Simon Bolivar - SSBN 641 (B)
USS Henry M. Jackson - SSBN 730 (B)
USSVI - Wyoming Base
Back to Top
SaltiDawg View Drop Down
Rickover
Rickover
Avatar

Joined: 03 Jan 2016
Location: Rockville, MD
Status: Offline
Points: 2865
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SaltiDawg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Oct 2020 at 2:39pm
gerry,
I read every book I can find about US Submarine Operations in the Pacific during WWII.

I still sometimes run into a boat's name that I have never heard of. (Dangling participle. lol)
Back to Top
gerry View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 16 Dec 2015
Status: Offline
Points: 634
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gerry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 8:16pm
MT2/SS
USS Simon Bolivar - SSBN 641 (B)
USS Henry M. Jackson - SSBN 730 (B)
USSVI - Wyoming Base
Back to Top
SaltiDawg View Drop Down
Rickover
Rickover
Avatar

Joined: 03 Jan 2016
Location: Rockville, MD
Status: Offline
Points: 2865
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SaltiDawg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 8:34am
Lehman was SECNAV when Admiral Rickover was censored by him and was forced to Retire under Reagan.

Edited by SaltiDawg - 14 Oct 2020 at 9:39am
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 11.04
Copyright ©2001-2015 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.069 seconds.