Originally Posted by
Winged Wheeler
How does the Navy decide what to call the ships? The newest carrier is to be called the Gerald Ford. That follows on the heels of the GHW Bush and the Ronald Reagan. As political as everything gets in Washington, I can't imagine the DEMs would be happy to keep funding new ships that are all named after presidents from the GOP.
Anybody ever heard how this process works?
WW
Secretary of The Navy names ships.
For the full story....
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq63-1.htm
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Ship Naming in the United States Navy
......On 3 March 1819 an act of Congress formally placed the responsibility for assigning names to the Navy's ships in the hands of the Secretary of the Navy, a prerogative which he still exercises. This act stated that "all of the ships, of the Navy of the United States, now building, or hereafter to be built, shall be named by the Secretary of the Navy, under the direction of the President of the United States, according to the following rule, to wit: those of the first class shall be called after the States of this Union; those of the second class after the rivers; and those of the third class after the principal cities and towns; taking care that no two vessels of the navy shall bear the same name." The last-cited provision remains in the United States Code today.........