The US Navys Oddball Name choices lately….
So Ray Mabus, former democratic Mississippi Governor, has chosen several names for warships lately including the USS Mississippi (that’s a surprise) the USS Jackson (whats the capitol of Mississippi?) and several after democratic party politicians (including Gerald Ford , JFK and Gabrielle Gifford) and leftist farm-worker organizer Cesar Chavez (who thankfully was at least in the Navy for a couple years in WWII). JFK is ok as a former USS John F Kennedy was a naval carrier and the only catholic President was also a naval hero. The name of Ford however is shocking as the USS Enterprise, with more than 50 years of service is being stricken soon and will her name will be available.
The JFK....he was a naval hero and should be remembered as such. However other choices my the current SECNAV are kinda odd...
Thankfully the navy is going forward with a plan to name some destroyers and LCS’s (wanna be frigates) after naval heroes and cities that aren’t in Mississippi.
One destroyer will be named for Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Rafael Peralta, a San Diegan who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in Iraq, when he “selflessly covering a grenade with his body to save his fellow Marines from the blast,” the Navy said.
Another destroyer will be named for the late World War II veteran John Finn, who received the Medal of Honor from Adm. Chester Nimitz for displaying “magnificent courage in the face of almost certain death” during the Japanese attack on military installations in Hawaii. Finn, a longtime resident of San Diego County, retired from the Navy as a lieutenant and died in 2010 at age 100. At the time he was the oldest living recipient of the nation’s highest award for valor in combat.
A third Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer will be named for Marine Corps Pfc. Ralph Henry Johnson, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam war. Johnson was serving with Camp Pendleton’s 1st Reconnaissance Battalion when he saved another Marine’s life by shouting a warning and hurling his body onto a grenade thrown into their fighting hole, preventing the enemy from penetrating his sector of the patrol’s perimeter. The 19-year-old Marine from Charleston, S.C. was killed instantly in the attack on March 5, 1968.
Two LCS;s will be named after cities, a tradition going back to Attack submarines of the 1980s-90s, cruisers of the 1900s-1960s and back to sail frigates of the 19th century.
However i just think The Navy just isnt Salty anymore.
Take these names of submarines from the turn of the century:
USS Plunger / A-1
USS Adder / A-2
USS Grampus / A-3
USS Moccasin / A-4
USS Pike / A-5
USS Porpoise, A-6
USS Shark, A-7
USS Tarantula
USS Viper
USS Cuttlefish
How much of a seadog are you if your ship is the Tarantula!
Sounds much better than the USS Jimmy Carter or USNS Caesar Chavez.…
Ford was a Republican. would have had a better reputation if he’d gotten a second term, inflation was actually on the way down when he lost the election to Carter.
Ford also served in the Navy and in fact aboard a carrier, and demonstrated courage and competence there. His name isn’t an embarassment.
Wikipedia is your friend.
Struckthrough……..Ford was in fact a republican, sorry to jump on that wagon as soon as I did. Well played Robert and Dave.
However I still maintain that until there is another USS Tarantula….the old steam navy has official swagger status over the new fangled LCS-laden fleet.