battleship

[Dave Wilton]

The naming of US Navy ships is inconsistent. Often a pattern will be set for a particular class of ships, but exceptions are liberally made--especially to name them after senators who have been generous with military appropriations.

Carriers have never been consistently named for battles. The first US carrier was the USS Langley. Then came the USS Lexington and USS Saratoga, followed by the Yorktown, Enterprise, and Hornet. Many of the WWII-era Essex class were, like the USS Philippine Sea, Tarawa, Princeton, Antietam, Bunker Hill, and Oriskany. But others in the class included revolutionary figures like Franklin, Hancock, and Randolph. Others were named after older ships, like Wasp, Hornet (replacement for the older Hornet which was sunk at the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands), and Kearsarge.

The Midway class, built at the end of the war, consisted of the USS Midway, Coral Sea, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Next came the Forrestal class: USS Forrestal, Saratoga (named after an older ship as well as a battle), Ranger, and Independence.

Then the Kitty Hawk class: USS Kitty Hawk, Constellation, America, and John F. Kennedy.

There was the new USS Enterprise, named after former ships, which was the first nuclear-powered carrier. It was the only one in its class and the oldest carrier still in service.

Then the Nimitz class, all named for people.

The latest is the USS Gerald R. Ford, which is planned for 2015. Two others in this class are planned, but not yet named.

Ticonderoga-class cruisers are named after battles, with the exception of the now-decommissioned USS Thomas S. Gates (a Secdef under Eisenhower).

Battleships, when we had them, were all named for states.

Now, missile submarines are named for states, with one exception, the USS Henry M. Jackson.

Attack subs are traditionally named for fish, but the Los Angeles class is named for cities, including the controversial USS City of Corpus Christi (the "city of" was added after people objected to naming a warship after the body of Christ). The one exception in that class is the USS Hyman G. Rickover. The Seawolf class consists of the USS Seawolf, Connecticut, and Jimmy Carter. The newest Virginia class is named after states, with the exception of the USS John Warner.

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Wilson Gray
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 1:41 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: battleship

On Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 1:13 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> USS Kearsarge

Up until the early '60's, this was the name of an aircraft carrier. My
brother served aboard it, back in the day. Carriers used to be named
after battles, no matter how historically obscure. Back in the '50's,
I had a colleague who'd served aboard the carrier, USS Oriskany.

KEER-sarge  a-RISS-k'ny

--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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