Goodbye Beautiful Carrier Names

[fbastos]

I was thinking about the thread with the "coolest" ship names, when I thought of "uncoolest" names. It struck me to find this one particularly not cool:

CVB42 Franklin D Roosevelt

It was the first attempt to stop giving famous battle place names for carriers, and brought the politics in. A decade later you got the politicians like a flood: John F Kenned, Nimitz, Einsenhower, Carl Vinson, etc...

Never again there will a carrier with a beautiful name like Yorktown or Lexington, but only the memory of politicians that were only doing the job they were elected or chosen to do.

Regards,
F.

[Ron Saueracker]

Enterprise, Ranger,Wasp, Hornet and Langley were hardly battle names. But I see you're point, naming ships for polititcians, beauracrats and non historical geographical names is simply friggin' boring in my opinion.

[waynec]

yes it's too bad. even have an ssn named jimmy carter. otoh we have an ffg named after samuel b roberts (a de of leyte gulf fame) that ate an exocet in the gulf during the tanker war and some of the ddg-51's are named after important folks (like ddg-63 uss stethem named after the navy diver murdered by arab terrorists during a plane hijacking in the med). of course the cg-47 ticonderogas are named after famous us battles.

[madmickey]

Do not include Nimitz with those slimy politicians.

[fbastos]

Enterprise, Ranger,Wasp, Hornet and Langley were hardly battle names.

That's a good point. Enterprise I can understand, as there were famous Enterprise boats before. But it completely baffles me where Ranger, Wasp and Hornet came from. Perhaps they wanted to give the carriers flying insect names starting with Wasp/Hornet, then changed their mind?

And Ranger... argh... it's an uninspired name for an uninspired ship. Perhaps named in honor of a famous boat?

[fbastos]

Do not include Nimitz with those slimy politicians.

I was thinking of adding a postscript note absolving Nimitz and Einsenhower. These are two guys that really deserve a ship on their name.

Forrestal? Carl Vinson? Give me a break...

[Ron Saueracker]

ORIGINAL: fbastos

Enterprise, Ranger,Wasp, Hornet and Langley were hardly battle names.

That's a good point. Enterprise I can understand, as there were famous Enterprise boats before. But it completely baffles me where Ranger, Wasp and Hornet came from. Perhaps they wanted to give the carriers flying insect names starting with Wasp/Hornet, then changed their mind?

And Ranger... argh... it's an uninspired name for an uninspired ship. Perhaps named in honor of a famous boat?

All but Langley were famous Revolutionary War era ships I think.

[Ron Saueracker]

I'm just waiting for a USS Bill Clinton, the first fully female manned warship in the USN.

[fbastos]

That seems to be permeating other US agencies too....

First you got the Hubble space telescope, what makes sense as Hubble was a great and dedicated scientist.

Now NASA gave the name James Webb to the new space telescope. Uh? Who's that guy? An administrator at NASA! So the next probe to Jupiter will honor the Human Resources director, the next one the the Budget manager, and so on.

As admiral Rickover once said when he started giving city names to submarines: "Fish don't vote!"

F.

PS: Don't have anything against city names; most are really cool - hooray Rickover!

[fbastos]

All but Langley were famous Revolutionary War era ships I think.

Gotcha, thank you. I never cared to look at the DANFS for these guys. Good info.

[Ron Saueracker]

I'm surprised that Navy astronauts like John Young, Wally Schirra, Pete Conrad, Alan Shepard and Jim Lovell have not been honoured with probes, satellites or ships. Shepard and Conrad have both recently passed on and they friggin' deserve the honour more than some paper pushing civil servant.

[Ron Saueracker]

ORIGINAL: fbastos

That seems to be permeating other US agencies too....

First you got the Hubble space telescope, what makes sense as Hubble was a great and dedicated scientist.

Now NASA gave the name James Webb to the new space telescope. Uh? Who's that guy? An administrator at NASA! So the next probe to Jupiter will honor the Human Resources director, the next one the the Budget manager, and so on.

As admiral Rickover once said when he started giving city names to submarines: "Fish don't vote!"

F.

PS: Don't have anything against city names; most are really cool - hooray Rickover!

Who cares about the votes. Do ya think the thevoters in the state of Connecticut paid more than any other tax payers to get a Seawolf Class SSN named after it? Isn't New London and Electric Boat enough of a bloody kickback over the decades?

[eMonticello]

(first) Ranger (commissioned 1777) - 24-gun sloop-of-war commanded by John Paul Jones from 1777-1778. It was the first US ship to be saluted by the French and the first US ship to defeat a British Royal Navy ship, HMS Blake during the American Revolutionary War.
Named to commemorate five US warships which had previously borne the name. "Ranger" means "one who wanders; military scout."

(first) USS Enterprise (commissioned 1799) - 14-gun brig-of-war defeated 12-gun brig-sloop HMS Boxer on 5 September 1813.
Named to commemorate six US warships which had previously borne the name. "Enterprise" means "boldness, energy, and invention in practical affairs."

(first) USS Wasp (commissioned 1806) - 18-gun sloop-of-war defeated 18-gun brig-sloop HMS Frolic on 18 September 1812.
Named to commemorate seven US warships which had previously borne the name. A "Wasp" is "any of numerous winged hymenopterous insects possessing smooth, slender bodies, and an abdomen attached by a narrow stalk. They have well-developed wings, biting mouthparts, and often administer painful stings."

(first) USS Hornet (commissioned 1806) - 18-gun sloop-of-war defeated 18-gun brig-sloop HMS Penguin on 23 March 1815.
Named to commemorate six US warships which had previously borne the name. A "Hornet" is "a large strong wasp whose sting is severe."

USS Langley - Named after Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906), American astronomer, physicist, and pioneer in the development of heavier-than-air craft.

ORIGINAL: fbastos

Enterprise, Ranger,Wasp, Hornet and Langley were hardly battle names.

That's a good point. Enterprise I can understand, as there were famous Enterprise boats before. But it completely baffles me where Ranger, Wasp and Hornet came from. Perhaps they wanted to give the carriers flying insect names starting with Wasp/Hornet, then changed their mind?

And Ranger... argh... it's an uninspired name for an uninspired ship. Perhaps named in honor of a famous boat?

Below is the only photo of a boat named "Enterprise".
1930: Enterprise, United States def. Shamrock V, Ireland 4-0 at Newport.

[The Gnome]

I'm just waiting for some corporation to pay for the naming rights, like sports fields.

DDG Fed EX
CG Microsoft
CVN Burger King

[Platoonist]

I'm just thankful the US got away from those deathly dull S-numbers for submarines. Leave the lack of imagination to the Axis with their U-Boats and I-Boats.... The U-333 just went missing in the South Atlantic Admiral Donitz. Huh? The what? The who? Let me look that one up in my Rolodex.

[jnier]

ORIGINAL: waynec

even have an ssn named jimmy carter.

Jimmy Carter is the only president who was actually a submariner. So it's not a stretch to name a sub after him.

But agreed that in general the politician/bureaucrat thing is terrible. Did Ronald Reagan or Harry Truman ever serve on an aircraft carrier?

[fbastos]

(first) Ranger - 24-gun sloop-of-war commanded by John Paul Jones from 1776-1778.
Named to commemorate five US warships which had previously borne the name. "Ranger" means "one who wanders; military scout."

(first) USS Enterprise - 14-gun brig-of-war defeated 12-gun brig-sloop HMS Boxer on 5 September 1813.
Named to commemorate six US warships which had previously borne the name. "Enterprise" means "boldness, energy, and invention in practical affairs."

(first) USS Wasp - 18-gun sloop-of-war defeated 18-gun brig-sloop HMS Frolic on 18 September 1812.
Named to commemorate seven US warships which had previously borne the name. A "Wasp" is "any of numerous winged hymenopterous insects possessing smooth, slender bodies, and an abdomen attached by a narrow stalk. They have well-developed wings, biting mouthparts, and often administer painful stings."

(first) USS Hornet - 14-gun brig-of-war defeated 18-gun brig-sloop HMS Penguin on 23 March 1815.
Named to commemorate six US warships which had previously borne the name. A "Hornet" is "a large strong wasp whose sting is severe."

USS Langley - Named after Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906), American astronomer, physicist, and pioneer in the development of heavier-than-air craft.

Good stuff! Thank you.

F.

[eMonticello]

fbastos,

I checked another source and updated the information. Wasp and Hornet were sisterships, so they are both sloop-of-wars.

[fbastos]

Perhaps they wanted to give the carriers flying insect names starting with Wasp/Hornet, then changed their mind?

Now this sounds completely dumb... [:D]

Living and learning!

[fbastos]

. Did Ronald Reagan or Harry Truman ever serve on an aircraft carrier?

Trumman was an artillery officer during WW1, I think so.