Congressional legislation is pending as this column went to press that could force the Navy to name the next nuclear aircraft carrier, the CVN-78, for former president Gerald R. Ford. This congressional action violates policy and tradition, by which the Secretary of the Navy-under the direction of the President of the United States—is responsible for assigning names to Navy ships. This policy dates to an Act of Congress of 3 March 1819.1
The policy of naming super carriers for politicians, however, must be laid at the feet of the U.S. Navy. In 1944-45 four Navy admirals and four Army generals were appointed to five-star rank. As the admirals passed away the Navy honored them by naming destroyer-type frigates for them: King (DLG-10), Leahy (DLG-16), and Halsey (DLG-23).2 This move fit well with the tradition of naming destroyer-type ships for Navy leaders, which honored several previous Secretaries of the Navy, Chiefs of Naval Operations, and fleet commanders.
But when Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz passed away in 1966 the Navy's leadership did not name a destroyer-type ship for the man who had commanded the Pacific Fleet from 1942-45 and served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1946-47. Rather, the Navy named the second nuclear-propelled aircraft carrier—the CVAN-68—the Nimitz.
This was in sharp contrast to the U.S. policy of naming aircraft carriers. Beginning with the USS Lexington (CV-2), completed in 1927, carriers were generally named for battles or historic ships.3 The policy was broken in 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt told the press that the Doolittle raid against Japan had come from Shangri-La, the mythical Asian kingdom of James Hilton's popular novel Lost Horizon. The Navy promptly assigned the name Shangri-La to a new ship, CV-38, to honor the carrier Hornet (CV-8), the actual base of Doolittle's bombers. (Subsequently, after the Hornet was sunk in action later in 1942, another carrier, CV-12, was given that name; thus, the first carrier Hornet was twice honored.)
But other war-built carriers had battle and historic ship names. On 8 May 1945, a month after President Roosevelt died in office, the then-building large carrier Coral Sea (CVB-42) was renamed Franklin D. Roosevelt. The full name was apparently used because there was another Roosevelt in the fleet, the engine repair ship Kermit Roosevelt (ARG-16).
The first carrier built after the war, the CVA-59, was named Forrestal to honor the first Secretary of Defense, James V. Forrestal, who had committed suicide shortly after leaving office. The next seven carriers remembered older ships, although the Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) was named to honor the North Carolina location of the Wright Brothers' first airplane flight on 17 December 1903, rather than the war-era aircraft transport of that name, the APV-1, later AKV-1.
An additional exception to the naming scheme occurred when the CVA-67 was named John F. Kennedy for another president who died in office. There was already a destroyer named for his older brother, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850), hence the full name was used.
But the Navy's leadership broke the mold when the CVAN-68 was named Nimitz. That ship was followed by another carrier named for a five-star officer, the Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVAN-69). That name was assigned by direction of the White House as President Richard M. Nixon honored the man whom he had served as vice president. Thus, the paradigm was established for naming aircraft carriers for national leaders and politicians:
CVAN-69 Dwight D. Eisenhower4
CVN-70 Carl Vinson
CVN-71 Theodore Roosevelt
CVN-72 Abraham Lincoln
CVN-73 George Washington
CVN-74 John C. Stennis
CVN-75 Harry S. Truman
CVN-76 Ronald Reagan
CVN-77 George H. W. Bush
Periodic calls by individuals and groups to return naming carriers for battles and historic ships have fallen on deaf ears. John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy from January 1981 to April 1987, was able to gain authorization for four carriers during his tenure, and named the CVN-75 the United States. The original USS United States was one of the six frigates authorized by the Congress in 1794. The second United States was a battle cruiser (CC-6) laid down in 1920 but cancelled; two of her sister ships were completed as the carriers Lexington (CV-2) and Saratoga (CV-3). The next United States was the first super carrier (CVA-58), laid down in April 1949 and promptly cancelled.
After Mr. Lehman's departure from the Pentagon the CVN-75 was renamed for the 33rd president-Truman. Significantly, two U.S. Navy warships other than carriers were named for former presidents during this period: The nuclear-propelled submarine SSN-23 was named Jimmy Carter, honoring a president who-despite his nuclear training as a naval officer-never served in a nuclear submarine, and whose presidency is remembered by some for a rundown of U.S. military forces.
Next, the Aegis destroyer DDG-80 was named Roosevelt, honoring FDR and-to be politically correct-his wife Eleanor. She is the first "first lady" to have a Navy ship named in her honor. (The 32nd president previously was honored by the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt, which was on the Naval Vessel Register from 1945 to 1972.) FDR had served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy-the No. 2 Navy position at the time-in World War I and as President was largely responsible for the naval buildup of the late 1930s and for guiding the nation during most of World War II. His accomplishments certainly warranted consideration for being honored with a CVN.
The CVN-78 will likely be named for Gerald R. Ford, certainly a great American, who served as ship's company on a light carrier in World War II.
Instead of Mr. Ford, who had little impact or influence on naval or defense matters, naming the new ship the Franklin D. Roosevelt would honor a great American and navalist. This would also carry on the tradition of naming modern carriers for national leaders and politicians while recapturing the tradition of naming carriers for former warships-in this instance, the CVB-42.5
1Navy Department, press release, 29 September 1938, p. 1. back to article
2In 1975 the DLGs were reclassified as CG or DDG. back to article
3The first U.S. carrier, the USS Langley (CV-1), was named for aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpont Langley, who at times was credited with the first powered flight in the United States. back to article
4The Nimitz and Eisenhower were ordered as CVAN; changed to CVN on 30 June 1975. The Vinson and later ships were ordered as CVN. back to article
5With regard to DDG-80 and the suggested naming of CVN-78, in the past, the U.S. Navy has renamed ships in commission. The DDG-5, originally named Biddle, was renamed Claude V. Ricketts. back to article