The Scoop Deck

The politics and correctnesss of ship names

July 30th, 2009 | Carriers Historical Ships Washington | Posted by Andrew Scutro

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Steams toward the Panama Canal on 10 October 1945, while en route to New York to participate in Navy Day celebrations.//U.S. Navy

Enterprise (CV-6) steams toward the Panama Canal on 10 October 1945, while en route to New York to participate in Navy Day celebrations.//U.S. Navy

Updating a previous Scoop Deck blog post, naval aviation blogger Steeljaw Scribe has taken up taken up a noble cause. A bill underway in Congress to name the second or third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers after the late, conservative Sen. Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona has prompted Steeljaw to rally against the practice of naming flat-tops after polititians. At least the namesake of the last Nimitz-class carrier was a  proud naval aviator before entering politics. With the one-of-a-kind CVN-65 soon retiring, why not keep names like Enterprise in the fleet Steeljaw asks. See the petition to do so here.

Slight digression coming: Staffers here would agree. Years back for example, some of us thought it would be appropriate to use the opportunity of the Littoral Combat Ships to give them nasty names like Sledgehammer, Cutlass, Ice Pick and Machete. Then we looked on aghast as the first two were saddled with the impossible-to-offend-anyone names Freedom and Independence.

There’s just something more, ah, effective about the thought of a notional U.S.S. Sabre bearing down on a seagoing ne’er-do-well. It’s sort of like if the Air Force decided to call the AC-130 Spectre gunship the AC-130 Equality or the Pursuit of Happiness gunship. A lethal weapon for sure, so why sugarcoat with light and airy names?

Permalink | July 30th, 2009

Comments

  1. Gerald Ford | All Days Long Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    [...] The Scoop Deck » The politics and correctnesss of ship names By Andrew Scutro A bill underway in Congress to name the second or third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers after the late, conservative Sen. Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona has prompted Steeljaw to rally against the practice of naming flat-tops after … The Scoop Deck – http://militarytimes.com/blogs/scoopdeck/ [...]

  2. Gunner Says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 11:59 am

    ………..and the logical progression from Freedom and Independence was Coronado and Fort Worth. SECNAV really lost it on that one.

  3. Dan Smith Says:
    August 2nd, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    I can’t even tell you how upset the entire naval community is going to be if we don’t have another Enterprise once 65 retires. I’ve always been vocal (to my shipmates) about the naming system in use now days. Submarines after cities, cruisers after battles…it’s sad. When did we go wrong? What happened?

  4. GRRIFF Humphrey Says:
    August 5th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    The same politicians who want to have ships named after themselves usually make sure that no child of theirs will ever have to serve
    on any ship or even in the military.
    And , as usual, anything they touch gets
    screwed up.

  5. The Scoop Deck – Another LCS delay — but look on the bright side Says:
    August 23rd, 2010 at 4:37 pm

    [...] back to its roots and use some of the tougher names our own Andrew Scutro once recommended, such as Sledgehammer, Cutlass, Ice Pick and Machete? What would you [...]

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