Better names for US warships

scifilovr

I'm never not going to be jealous of French and British ship names over American. Sure it's great for a state or a city to say they have a warship named after them, but I'm sorry, South Dakota, Augusta, and Idaho do not strike fear or evoke a great emotional response, let alone John C. Stennis, Harry Truman, or George H.W. Bush. I'd love to generate some names for a US Navy that is a bit more creative.

You have the classics that are still around or saw a little mileage: Constitution, Constellation, Enterprise, Reprisal, Macedonian, America, United States.
Some that saw a little usage: Dictator, Monitor, New Ironsides

I came up with these on my own and I'd love to add some more to the list: Emancipator, Explorer, Pioneer, Declaration, Sojourner, Pathfinder.
 
Driftless

Driftless

Donor
There should always be a: Ranger, Bonhomme Richard, Kearsarge, Constellation, Constitution, and Enterprise on whatever is considered a modern capital ship. You can slip in top Admirals too: Nimitz, Dewey, Farragut, Spruance.
 
Gokbay

Gokbay

scifilovr said:
I'm never not going to be jealous of French and British ship names over American. Sure it's great for a state or a city to say they have a warship named after them, but I'm sorry, South Dakota, Augusta, and Idaho do not strike fear or evoke a great emotional response, let alone John C. Stennis, Harry Truman, or George H.W. Bush. I'd love to generate some names for a US Navy that is a bit more creative.

You have the classics that are still around or saw a little mileage: Constitution, Constellation, Enterprise, Reprisal, Macedonian, America, United States.
Some that saw a little usage: Dictator, Monitor, New Ironsides

I came up with these on my own and I'd love to add some more to the list: Emancipator, Explorer, Pioneer, Declaration, Sojourner, Pathfinder.
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Nonsense. The vast majority of USN ship names are fine names. Including the state and city names (naming ships after regions and cities are something the British and the French did quite commonly as well).

Ok, the modern aircraft carrier (and Cold War SSBN) naming scheme of politicians could have been better but we do have states for the latter and great carrier legacy names from WW2 (and earlier sailing warship names) to replace them.
 
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Kalga

Kalga

Have them suggested and voted on by the general public (whether it be at the state or national level), whether it be mail, phone, or online polling depending on the era. Combine it with public donation drives you might even yield a few more ships at certain points.

It would be a fascinating insight on popular trends of certain subsections of the population during different eras and their evolution.
 
Gokbay

Gokbay

Kalga said:
Have them suggested and voted on by the general public (whether it be at the state or national level), whether it be mail, phone, or online polling depending on the era. Combine it with public donation drives you might even yield a few more ships at certain points.

It would be a fascinating insight on popular trends of certain subsections of the population during different eras and their evolution.
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Do you want USS Boaty MacBoatface or USS [expletive]? Because that's how you get them.

That said, public donation drives are a pretty good idea, considering the main issue with USN construction was never industrial capability, it was Congress never giving them money.
 
Kalga

Kalga

Gokbay said:
Do you want USS Boaty MacBoatface or USS [expletive]? Because that's how you get them.

That said, public donation drives are a pretty good idea, considering the main issue with USN construction was never industrial capability, it was Congress never giving them money.
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Yes I absolutely want USS WarshipMcWarshipface, and maybe USS Pillar of Autumn as well.
 

I want to learn

scifilovr said:
I'm sorry, South Dakota, Augusta, and Idaho do not strike fear or evoke a great emotional response, let alone …
[QUOTE] [I][B][SIZE=5]Harry Truman[/SIZE][/B][/I] [/QUOTE]
…
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Idk, “Harry Truman” is kind of a lame sounding name superficially and his public image was maybe somewhat unassuming, but I think a warship could have a worse namesake than the victorious commander-in-chief who won the bloodiest war in human history with atomic hellfire.
 
Rattenfänger von Memphis

Rattenfänger von Memphis

Donor
I think most of the following names are particularly associated with America’s history. Americans believe their nation, rightly or wrongly, to be an exceptional, unique nation that is generally relied upon to be “the world’s policeman”. Some of the names are designed to reflect the best characteristics of American history (like fair play and equality) and to encourage those who do not understand the ship’s name to try to find the answer.

(1) USS “Manifest Destiny” (in a good, non-imperialisitic way, much like the descendants of the “Berserker” Vikings came to be the extremely peace-loving Nordic nations of today.)

(2) USS “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of many, one.” –the United States Motto)

(3) USS “Equalizer”

(4) USS “Exceptional”

(5) USS “Enlightenment”

(6) USS “Different Drummer”

(7) USS “Four Freedoms”

(8) USS “Resilience” or USS “Resilient”)

(9) USS "Immigrant Song" ( The United States is a nation of immigrants and this Led Zeppelin song contains a fitting response to any enemy in the lines :

"So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins
For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing."

(10) USS “Gort” (from the 1951 American movie “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. As Klaatu said , from the IMDB—Internet Movie Data Base -- about Gort and his fellow robots: “At the first sign of violence, they act automatically against the aggressor….It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration.")
 

Peg Leg Pom

The problem the US Navy has is that the Royal Navy has already used all the good names. They're not going to get away with naming a ship USS Victory or USS Warspite.
 
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TaronQuinn

Dunbar said:
Just copying the UNSC ship naming conventions would be great
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USS Torch of Liberty
USS Whites of Their Eyes
USS Damn the Torpedoes
USS Spirit of '76
USS Manifest Destiny
USS Trenton at Dawn
USS From the Ramparts
USS Pass the Ammunition
USS Last Full Measure
USS March to the Sea
USS Chorus of the Union


for those willing to countenance an acknowledgement of rebe...I mean, Confederate quotes: USS Like a Stonewall
 
SealTheRealDeal

SealTheRealDeal

I think State and City names are actually very good, and sailor/admiral names are at least fitting. Who ever approved naming carriers after presidents should be thrown in jail forever.
 
Not James Stockdale

Not James Stockdale

My opinions:
Carriers should only carry names of the sort that were proposed for CCs. The Navy should make all possible efforts to ensure that names like Wasp, Hornet, and Enterprise are never out of use. USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) seems to have started the trend of naming ships already under construction after recently deceased political supporters of the US Navy. That was a colossal mistake. USS Reprisal is a particularly good name that has not seen service in a long time.

I think using the names of USN and USMC Medal of Honor and Navy Cross awardees for destroyers is good. They are the largest combatants that should be named after people.

The practice of naming cruisers after cities was disrupted by the fact that the US Navy did not commission any cruisers except USS Long Beach for about three decades. The Cold War frigates received names appropriate for surface combatants of their size, while the nuclear frigates should not have received state names. The names used for the Ticonderoga class guided missile destroyers are more appropriate for aircraft carriers or battlecruisers. I would normally say that Navy ships should not be named after land battles, but Lexington and Saratoga are good names. USS Chancellorsville should have been renamed after a decisive Union victory like Chattanooga, which might also mean naming a cruiser after a city.

Because the Navy was not building cruisers and naming them after cities, the Los Angeles class attack submarines were named after cities. While I like that all of them followed the same naming scheme, unlike the preceding Sturgeon class, I prefer the fish names.

As the ultimate guarantors of American sovereignty, naming the Ohio class SSBNs after states is appropriate, especially because there are no more battleships to name after states. While the names of the early 41 for Freedom might be appropriate for American capital ships, by the end they were running out of historical figures. Naming an American warship after Will Rogers was not a good idea.
 
gatordad699

gatordad699

IMHO and talking to others, we like/liked the names. I was on the USS Jacksonville, Stonewall Jackson, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. The cities and states were always doing nice stuff for you. Went to Jacksonville once and they threw us a 4 day party. I’m actually an Honorary Kentucky Colonel because I did the last patrol of the Clay. Guys on the Indianapolis got to go to the Indy 500 every year (like Pit Row and stuff). The USS Jimmy Carter is now the spec ops boat. Nukes I knew on the Rickover thought it was cool. Carl Vinson was the father of the Two Ocean Navy Act. JFK was, well JFK. Ford was in combat for several years on a CVL. They are changing. Think it’s SSN 804 that’s going to be the Barb. As far as myself and fellow submariners are concerned, they could just name all surface ships USS Target.
 
Gokbay

Gokbay

Not James Stockdale said:
Because the Navy was not building cruisers and naming them after cities, the Los Angeles class attack submarines were named after cities. While I like that all of them followed the same naming scheme, unlike the preceding Sturgeon class, I prefer the fish names.
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I mean, unless you go with "all modern destroyers/frigates are already cruisers" SSNs might well be the closest things to cruisers so naming them after cities makes sense I think (state names should definitely go to the SSBNs however).

Thought fish/aquatic life for submarines is quite an excellent naming scheme as well ngl.
 

Dorknought

TaronQuinn said:
USS Torch of Liberty
USS Whites of Their Eyes
USS Damn the Torpedoes
USS Spirit of '76
USS Manifest Destiny
USS Trenton at Dawn
USS From the Ramparts
USS Pass the Ammunition
USS Last Full Measure
USS March to the Sea
USS Chorus of the Union


for those willing to countenance an acknowledgement of rebe...I mean, Confederate quotes: USS Like a Stonewall
Click to expand...
or from the movies. DDG USS Charlie Don't Surf and USS Make My Day on patrol in the Taiwan strait...
 
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