March 13, 2025: With all the personnel, ship building and deployment problems the U.S. Navy has, arguments over what to name ships should not be a problem. But it sometimes is. In the beginning the first president, George Washington, named the first six American frigates Chesapeake, Constitution, President, United States, Congress and Constellation. These ships were expensive, as in nearly $20 billion in 2025 currency. From then until the 1970s battleships were named for states, aircraft carriers for American Revolution terms like the battles of Lexington or Saratoga, as well as military terms like Ranger, which refers to a form of elite infantry that scout over long distances to collect information. Bonhomme Richard honored Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard's Almanac. Cruisers were named for cities and towns, destroyers in honor of American Navy and Marine Corps heroes and submarines after fish. Many of the first Americans submarines built before World War II were given names consisting of a letter and a number, like L-3. These subs quickly acquired informal names used by the crew. Eventually U.S. submarines were all named after fish, in addition to a letters-number designation like SS-168 for the USS Nautilus. This sub served in the Pacific and was decommissioned and scraped right after the war.

The first nuclear powered sub was the Nautilus, which entered service in 1954 and was decommissioned in 1980. Nearly all subsequent nuclear powered attack subs, or SSNs, were named after fish. The larger ballistic missile carrying SSBNs were named after famous Americans like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. In 1984 an SSN was named after Admiral Rickover, the man behind the nuclear submarine program. Rickover was still alive when his namesake submarine entered service. Rickover was the first to be so honored. In 1974 Carl Vinson, a member of Congress had a ship named after him, but he died before the ship was commissioned. So far 21 US Navy ships have been named after people still alive. The navy had banned that practice in 1969 but in 1974 President Nixon revived the practice. Most recently a SSN was named after the still living former President Jimmy Carter, who was scheduled to serve on one when his father died and he left the Navy to take over his family’s business.

Ship naming practices continue to be controversial. Many navy personnel, active and retired, believe ships should be named after American heroes, not politicians. All this goes back to the period right after World War II, when the military procurement system became more corrupt, largely the result of so much more being spent on defense. One aspect of that corruption was the growing custom of naming major warships after influential politicians. This was a way for the navy, and warship builders, to curry more favor and money from Congress.

The worst example of this was the Nimitz class carriers, which could also be called the Politician Class. All but one of the ten carriers was named after political figures that helped the navy. The sole exception was the lead ship, which was named after the World War II Pacific commander, Admiral Chester Nimitz. The successor to the Nimitz class continues the tradition, being named after President Gerald Ford. But at least Ford served with distinction on light carrier USS Monterey during World War II.

The most debased example of using warship names to attract political favor, and defense dollars, was the 2010 U.S. Navy decision to name an amphibious ship, LPD 26 after a recently deceased member of Congress, John Murtha. This really angered the troops, especially marines. That was ironic, as Murtha had spent 37 years in the marines, 33 of them in the reserves. He served a year in Vietnam as a staff officer. He parlayed that military experience into a political career, first at the state level then in Washington.

Murtha was known as a particularly easy guy to do business with and a supreme opportunist. He was nicknamed the King of Pork for his ability to get projects, often useless but lucrative ones, approved for his district. What made Murtha especially unpopular with the marines was his willingness to join the chorus of accusers condemning seven marines accused of murdering Iraqis in 2005. All but one of the accused eventually had the charges dismissed or were acquitted. It was a witch hunt and marines saw Murtha as one of the more eager hunters. Murtha had also been in trouble before on ethics issues and was known to play dirty when it suited his purposes. But people like Murtha loved to spend federal money, especially for the navy and marines. So while most sailors and marines loathed the man, the brass were more respectful and held firm on the decision to name an amphibious ship after him.