How do they choose the name of ships for the Navy? Some are named cities. Like the Indianapolis. Who choose?

Question

Who chooses the names and cities names for the ships? Are certain types of ships named for cities.?

Answer 1

"Named after their first skipper"? "Generals in the Pentagon"?........dear me........



from 1890 to about 1960, it was real simple.....battleships were named for states. Cruisers were named for cities ( not just capitols of states, ie Chicago, Northampton,San Fransisco) destroyers and destroyer escorts for naval hero's, submarines ( after they stopped numbering them) for fish( Harder, Trigger, Wahoo) carriers for battles ( Saratoga, Lexington, Valley Forge) or famous warships of the past ( Hornet Wasp Essex Constellation).....names evolved as consensus within the Navy and got submitted to the Sec of the Navy for approval.....sometimes some outside influence was accepted, but generally it was an in-house thing.

This neat system cracked when the Navy named a carrier for FDR shortly after his death, and likewise JFK...and then the system fell apart to political pressure; a Congressman noted that "fish dont vote" so subs got named after cities ( Los Angeles class 688 boats); Presidents wanted to honor Presidents they had served under; Nixon-Eisenhower, Bush-Regan; Clinton wanted to piss off the Navy by naming a carrier for Truman who he admired and who hated the Navy....the system got a little back on track when missile subs took over the role of battleships and got state names ( Ohio class) and destroyers are still named for naval heroes....Spruance, Burke.... but the whole system is fraught with politics and not as clean and simple as it once was.....three subs in a row, for example, are named for a fish, a state, and a pacifist but Naval Academy graduate President.......

Answer 2

each class of ship will be named after a speccific thing..whether that be state capitols(Nuke Subs), Presidents(nuke carriers) or famous battles or Naval or Marine Corps personnel. The various communities(surface, Submarine, etc) decide what the class will named after, and Congress decides the actual names.



even non combat ships are named after famous people.. the USNS Bob Hope, for example...

Answer 3

some people think that some general in the pentagon chooses the names but its actually the crew of the boat and the president

Answer 4

The answer just above me is pretty much accurate. Ships are named according to their classification.

Answer 5

IM NOT SURE WHO SETS THE NAMES IN PLACE BUT I DO KNOW THAT SOME ARE NAMED AFTER THIER FRIST "SKIPPERS" EX: USS NIMITZ THAT WAS NAMED AFTER THE FIVE STAR ADMR CHESTER NIMITZ. SOME ARE NAMED AFTER PRESIDANTS USS R. RAGAN, WASHINGTON THINGS LIKE THAT. NOW SAY FOR INSTANCE USS KITTY HAWK AKA SHITTY KITTY I DONT KNOW WHERE THOSE NAMES COME FROM.



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