Talk:List of U.S. military vessels named after living Americans

USS Henry M. Jackson
Question: I believe this sub belongs in this group...


 * USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) (laid down in 1981; Sen. Jackson died 1983)

...but I don't know whether it was actually named for the senator before he died. It was launched the following month and commissioned the following year. Anyone? Bbpen 19:35, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Not a terribly good idea for a page: it will be obsolete at some point! -- Tarquin 17:18, 10 Dec 2003 (UTC)


 * No, it won't. These will remain the only ships named, as the next comment says, for people who were alive at the time. Bbpen 19:35, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Presumably it should really mean "Americans alive at the time of naming". While I'm thinking about, a bunch of early ships, such Adam, Washington, Deane, etc were also named for living Americans, need to add those at some point. Stan 18:26, 10 Dec 2003 (UTC)


 * Will this ever be a full-sized article? It was originally a single sentence I added to the articles on the ships themselves, but someone decided to move it to its own page and use a different (and astoundingly graceless) sentence as a link to the one-sentence article.  In case you can't tell, I don't like it. --the Epopt 16:00, 1 Jan 2004 (UTC)


 * Nice reorg work on 31 Dec, Epopt. I think the list deserves its own article. I've found it a useful reference on several occasions. Bbpen 19:53, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Removing phrase
I removed the phrase "(indeed, all navies)" from the article. Show me a reference stating that, please. I strongly doubt that every navy on the planet has the tradition that ships cannot be named for living people. &#10149;the Epopt [[TINC| of the Cabal ]] 17:01, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Age of honorees
Perhaps it should be mentioned that the recent violation of the tradition has been tepid in that the eponyms have all been (usually long) retired, rather elderly and presumably near death. It would still I think be unthinkable to name a ship for someone who still had an active military or politcal career.--Pharos 03:06, 6 February 2006 (UTC)


 * So, you want to say that it's okay because the honorees all have one foot in the grave? Note that Touncey, mentioned in the main article, was actively serving. The ship was only not named after him on his request. The idea that the honorees should be nearly dead is not part of the tradition. Perhaps a comment about their retired status is okay, but mentioning their health seems rather, oh, I don't know, crass. Jinian 14:09, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Does anyone know if J Fred Talbott and Richmond K Turner were actually named before their namesakes died or were named to honor their recently deceased namesakes? Ssvonavec 03:36, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_S._McCain_(DDG-56) needs to go in too 69.88.45.175 (talk)  —Preceding undated comment added 15:44, 19 March 2009 (UTC).


 * I don't think so. McCain Sr. died in 1945, Jr. in 1981, and the USS McCain was laid down in 1991. Rees11 (talk) 16:20, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
 * That ship's not named after the current US Senator, John S. McCain III. It's named after his father and grandfather, who as Rees11 noted both died long before the ship was named. 75.76.213.106 (talk) 21:01, 30 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Except, the McCain's own page mentions this: "On 11 July 2018, at a rededication ceremony, Senator John McCain was added as a namesake, along with his father and grandfather."  So, even though it was not originally named for him, it appears that it is now.  So shouldn't that warrant inclusion?  Chief1983 (talk) 16:55, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

Timeline
I've just started Template:U.S. ships named for living persons timeline. It is my first EasyTimeline project, and it leaves a lot to be desired. For one thing, there should be some way to redesign the thing so you can read all of the ships' names. For another, it would be nice to show how the namesakes' death dates corresponded to the ships' naming. Please have at it. PRRfan (talk) 16:52, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Christening/Namiing
This list seems to confuse naming and chrisetning, using "naming" for both events. "Nmaing" is the announcment by the Navy of the name of the ship, and can occur at aany time. "Christening" is only done when the ship is launched. the USS Smiling Jimmy was christened in 2004, but named under the Clinton administration (pre-2001). - BilCat (talk) 17:24, 6 March 2010 (UTC)


 * I found a couple sources that seem to say 2000, but they're behind paywalls so I can't check them. I don't see any other cases of naming/christening confusion but if you know of any please either point them out here or fix them yourself. Rees11 (talk) 20:47, 6 March 2010 (UTC)


 * I will, if I find sources with the correct dates. - BilCat (talk) 23:49, 6 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Naming events (as opposed to commissioning) don't seem to get a lot of press coverage. But there must be a stash of press releases on the Navy web site that could be used. Rees11 (talk) 15:43, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Arleigh Burke
It may be worth mentioning that Admiral Burke has a whole CLASS of ships named after him, since the USS Arleigh Burke was the first of its class. He also has the distinction of being the only one to have actually driven his namesake ship. (He was allowed to take the con for a few minutes I think on a shakedown cruise.) Bigmac31 (talk) 16:02, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

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April 14, 2021 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress.
Here is an official source from with a  &mdash; MrDolomite &bull; Talk 13:52, 16 April 2021 (UTC)