In February 2019, I boarded the USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) to observe a series of antisubmarine warfare (ASW) training exercises. The ship, named for the indomitable Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient, was truly remarkable. She can carry two embarked MH-60R ASW helicopters—a common feature of the Flight IIA guided-missile destroyers—and her combat systems are similar to other ships in her class. Her crew was motivated, competent, and focused on warfighting—certainly an important feature but not unique.
So, what about the Michael Murphy was so remarkable?
Her namesake provided the ship with a hero, a legend, a cultural touchstone.1 To name a ship is to give it a soul, a unique character that transcends its hull and crew. On the Michael Murphy, the name is religion, the captain the high priest, and the crew holy warriors.
Fighting units rely on their operational history to build esprit de corps. The 101st Airborne and the Marine Corps, for example, have the narratives of World War II to bolster and sustain their unique characteristics. Absent this unit history, new warships must adopt the history of their namesakes for drive and inspiration.
The Michael Murphy’s command master chief is known for making new members of the crew learn and explain the ship’s crest before they get a command ball cap. Her mess decks and wardroom are filled with Michael Murphy memorabilia and mementos from New York Fire Department Engine 53, Ladder 43, whose patch Murphy and his team wore on their uniforms. Murphy’s immediate family maintains close contact with the ship. Through all these, the Michael Murphy seeks to embody her namesake.
Other ships named for naval heroes have fallen out of this practice. It is easy for the grandchildren or great grandchildren to lose touch with the ship when the history becomes too distant. Too often the namesake becomes simply a few words on the stern of the ship and a brief reference at the end of emails.
How can the Navy both honor its past and imbue a ship with a soul? In short, name choice matters. It can give a ship’s crew a history and persona, something to rally around, train for, and honor. The name does not need to be that of a naval hero, but it does need to be meaningful. The annals of the service are rich in storied ships—the Constellation, Samuel B. Roberts, O’Bannon, England, and Hornet, to name a few—that can be tapped to provide newer ships with namesakes.
Beyond the name, a ship can display artifacts of a worthy namesake: wood or steel from the prior ship’s hull or deck, her ensign, and other unit insignia, or personal memorabilia related to the individual. The captain and command master chief can lean into the history beyond the sound bites: Reviewing the history with the crew as part of the check-in process, celebrating the namesake’s birthday, and remembering the days of major actions can build this awareness. All of this relies on the name.
To this end, the Secretary of the Navy has a responsibility to consider carefully the names given our ships. The nation’s and the Navy’s histories are long, and our heroes are many; there is no reason any warship should carry an unremarkable name.
1. See “Acts of Valor: Michael Murphy,” Naval History 31, no. 2 (April 2017).