The Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced today, 30JAN08, the official names of three Virginia-class submarines: USS Missouri, USS California, and USS Mississippi. According to the new release, the names were selected to,
“honors the continuous support of the military by the people of the ‘Show Me State,’ and its leaders;” “honors the thousands of men and women from California who serve in today’s Armed Forces, and the millions of Californian veterans and their families;” and “dedicated to the state’s long standing tradition of shipbuilding in support of our nation’s defense. It also honors the indomitable spirit of the people of Mississippi who have made great strides in recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina”
Not to be overly cynical, but the motive for naming these ships after their respective states is to curry the favor of the of the elected officials of the states. Because, there is no state in the Union that does not either directly support the U.S. Navy or provide sailors to man its ships.
Historically, submarines of the United States Navy were named after sea creatures, e.g., USS Cod and USS Bluegill. That all changed when Admiral Hyman G. Rickover was campaigning for the development of the Los Angeles-class attack submarine. Admiral Rickover needed the support from members of Congress to fund the project, thus the first twelve Los Angeles-class submarines were named after the cities of the congressmen who swung the vote in favor of supporting the project, e.g., USS Baton Rouge, USS Philadelphia, USS Memphis, USS Omaha. Tradition be dammed, because, as Admiral Rickover stated “Fish don’t vote.” That being said, here are the new ships in our fleet.
USS Missouri – the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of this state. The last, and most notable, is the Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri (BB 63), the ship upon which the surrender of the Empire of Japan was signed in Tokyo Bay.
USS California – the naming was championed by Congressman Adam Schiff.
USS Mississippi – the U.S. Navy previously named a battleship USS Mississippi (BB 41).
yojoe out
Filed under: Military, Military Hardware, Military Technology, Navy, Submarines
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best,
Nancy
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I am discusted by this. How much more history will the goverment take away. when is the last time we heard about pearl habour (not to take anything away from those who died or gave there lives) Since september 11. pretty soon you go to the hobbie shop ask for uss missouri and you get a submarine look her up pn line and get a sub. want to use a name to connect with mighty mo how about the uss douglas macarthur
I just hate the idea of taking away from such a proud ship and her history by starting with a new ship that is all