Ted's Soapbox 2.0

USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH

The procedures and practices involved in Navy ship naming are the products of evolution and tradition than of legislation. The names for new ships are personally decided by the Secretary of the Navy. Ship name recommendations are conditioned by such factors as the name categories for ship types now being built, as approved by the Secretary of the Navy; the distribution of geographic names of ships of the Fleet; names borne by previous ships which distinguished themselves in service; names recommended by individuals and groups; and names of naval leaders, national figures, and deceased members of the Navy and Marine Corps who have been honored for heroism in war or for extraordinary achievement in peace.

Starting at the beginning of the 20th Century, the Navy’s ships were named in accordance with a system, tailored to ship types. Names of states, for example, were borne by battleships. Cruisers were named for cities while destroyers came to be named for American naval leaders and heroes, as today’s destroyers are still named. Starting in 1931 submarines were named for “fish and denizens of the deep.” As World War II ship construction programs included new types of ships requiring new name sources; and other classes required a modification of existing name sources to meet a perceived shortage of “appropriate” names. Mass-produced antisubmarine patrol and escort ships were named in honor of members of the naval service killed in action in World War II. Some were named for destroyers lost in the early stages of that war. Ships lost in wartime were normally honored by having their names reassigned to new construction. During World War II the names of individuals were once again assigned to aircraft carriers.

While the Navy has attempted to be systematic in naming its ships, in recent years it seems there has been a complete breakdown in any attempt to sustain a systematic practice in the name categories for ship types. The first ship named for a living person was USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in 1975. Other ships named for living people include: (living at the time of commission)

USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51)
USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 709)
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)
USNS Bob Hope (T-AKR 300)
USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23)
USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77)

This lack of discipline in distinguishing between the quick and the dead has been utterly overwhelmed in recently years by the promiscuous distribution of names among various classes of ships. One of the chief benefits of the classical naming system that flourished during the Second World War was the precision with which the name of a ship defined the ship’s class, no small matter with a Navy boasting thousands of ships. The elegance of the system in which battleships were named for states, battle-cruisers for territories, large cruisers for large cities and light cruisers for small cities is difficult to exceed. But as the 600-ship Navy has evolved into the 300-ship Navy, it would seem that a presumption has arisen that one should be on a first-name basis with each ship of the fleet, and that no further introductions should be required. Half a century ago, there would be no doubt that a ship named after a state of the Union was a battleship, whereas today a ship with such a name might be whatever class of ship found favor with the Navy at the moment. This situation has reached absurd proportions with the SSN-21 class, the three units of which are named after a denizen of the deep, a state of the Union, and a President. This problem is not entirely an esthetic one, though the esthetics are the matter are difficult to ignore. As the Navy is increasingly called upon to operate in a joint environment, the services’s increasingly confusing ship nomenclature will only compound interoperability problems (indeed, one may wonder how many Army and Air Force personnel are aware that there is, in principle, some system by which the Navy names its various ships).

Prior to the CVN-70 Carl Vinson the Navy managed to get along just fine for nearly two centuries without naming ships for living individuals, an estimable tradition consistent with the “Dead Presidents” custom that only those who have departed this world may be honored by this world by having their likeness placed on money, stamps and other places of high public honor.
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****With that said, the USS George H. W. Bush was commissioned Saturday. Now, I can understand naming ships after common military members who have given their life to defend their country. I can understand naming ships after states and towns, even naming them after battles in wars. Even naming them after great presidents of our country. But naming a ship after George H. W. Bush? Come on, was he a great president? Not really, our economey sucked when he left office (must be a Bush tradition). He did take us to war, another Bush tradition, under false pretenses which turned out to be another war for oil (wow something else common within the Bush family), but I don’t think he was a great or even good president.

If the Navy wanted to name a ship after a living president, perhaps the William J. Clinton would have been a better choice. At least he didn’t flush the economy into the toilet or take us to war over oil.****

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The U.S. and Israeli continue their Orwellian litany of lies about conditions in Gaza.

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ON THE HOME FRONT

We had some snow yesterday, only about 2 inches but it was very windy and on my way home the road crews hadn’t done much at all. The highway I drive home on was only safe for about 35MPH. At midnight it is hard to see and with the blowing snow it was even harder. I was glad there were no deer near the road.

Today was my Friday so I will have two days off. This week went by very slow.

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10 Days Left. Getting excited
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Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring
Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central
Command: 4836

Its more than just a number