Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress

Abstract

Names for Navy ships traditionally have been chosen and announced by the Secretary of the Navy, under the direction of the President and in accordance with rules prescribed by Congress. Rules for giving certain types of names to certain types of Navy ships have evolved over time. There have been exceptions to the Navy's ship-naming rules, particularly for the purpose of naming a ship for a person when the rule for that type of ship would have called for it to be named for something else. Some observers in recent years have perceived a breakdown in, or corruption of, the rules for naming Navy ships. This report contains the following headings and subheadings: Background, Authority for Naming Ships, Navy's Process for Selecting Names, Naming Rules for Ship Types, Ships Named for Living Persons, Public's Role in Naming Ships, Congress's Role in Naming Ships, Past Legislation on Naming Ships, and Legislative Activity in the 111th Congress.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 13, 2010
Accession Number
ADA518950

Entities

People

  • Ronald O'Rourke

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircraft Carriers
  • Amphibious Ships
  • Attack Submarines
  • Carrier Based Aircraft
  • Congress
  • Cvn-79 Uss John F. Kennedy
  • Law
  • Marine Transportation
  • Naval Operations
  • Navy
  • Nuclear Propulsion
  • Second World War
  • United States
  • United States Naval Academy
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.