This is a CG picture of CVN-78, the new carrier design that will replace the Nimitz-classs carriers in 2015.
She's going to replace Enterprise, which will decommission after 54 years of service.
Navy veterans want her to be named America, as CV-66 was, & thus making it the America-class.
John Warner, senator from VA, has other ideas, though. Since carriers have been named for presidents & other officials since Nimitz, he wishess to name the ship after a president. Which one?
GERALD R. FORD.
Now I agreed with his call to name CVN-77 Lexington (it wasn't, she's USS George H. W. Bush, no shit), but this is absurd. And Congress has approved it.
I SERIOUSLY hope BUSHIPS laughs long & hard at them.
(Another senator, James Inhofe, wants CVN-78 to be named Wilderness, after the first battle between Grant & Lee. Can't see that, either.)
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Hey, at least it's not going to be the USS George W. Bush!
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Yet.
There's SO many other presidents they could choose. Woodrow Wilson. John Adams. Thomas Jefferson. Ulysses S. Grant. James Madison. James Monroe. But FORD??
This trend of recent individuals has to stop.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Well, there was the USS Chekov. Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Wessel class.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Could be worse- it could be the USS Rumsfeld.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
USS Leslie L. King, Jr. Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
Congress may have approved the name, but isn't the final call made by the US Navy itself, specifically the CNO? For all you know, it could get the name USS Franklin D. Roosevelt or even USS United States (they've been trying to get a carrier with that name for awhile) or even USS Robert F. Kennedy.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Exactly. Like I said, Lexington vs. George H. W. Bush.
A bunch of folks are trying to get the Navy to name one of the new Virginia-class subs Monitor.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Groups of vehicles named "Ford" just strike me as a bad idea.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Why can't they name it the Enterprise?
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
My god, imagine the size of the Calvin peeing-on-things sticker.
Posted by HerbShrump (Member # 1230) on :
Because then all those pictures of ships named Enterprise would be historically inaccurate. Bad enough Starfleet kept forgetting the NX-01 all these years.
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
There is talk of the first of the new CVN21 class being named after the Enterprise. My guess is that they will not do it. IIRC CVN-65 is due to be retired in 2015 which is when the first of the new breed is expected to be completed. They usually do not go from ship to ship with names without some break. (Though the Lex had an Essex named after her shortly after her sinking at The Coral Sea)
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
Actually, CVN-78 will actually enter service a few months before CVN-65 is decommed, so it can't be named Enterprise. Plus, for a new ship to be able to receive a previous ship's name, the previous ship itself must first be stricken off the Navy list. So even if CVN-65 is decommed before CVN-78 enters service, if the carrier hasn't been stricken off the list, CVN-78 still can't get the name.
As for the Lexingtons, CV-2 was stricken off the list as soon as she was sunk so that her Essex class successor could get the name. Though as I understand, CV-16 was unofficially named PCU Lexington before CV-2 was stricken and wasn't officially named until her launch.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
How about Executor? Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
These modern aircraft carriers are notoriously difficult places to find your way around. So even if they went for it, all it would take would be for a couple of Senators to find themselves "lost in the Wilderness" and there'd be a name change, sharpish.
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
quote: USS George H. W. Bush
The USS Bush? For some reason I'm reminded of the incident when George V vetoed Churchill's suggestion that one of the Queen Elizabeth class dreadnoughts be named after William Pitt on the grounds that the ship would be given a scatalogical nickname...
Which is also relevant because our new carriers (assuming they ever get built) are going to be the second Queen Elizabeth class. Although we're only getting two of them. And they're only going to displace approx. 60,000 tons.
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
I thought CV-16 was originally to be named "Cabot" but the name was changed to Lex after she went down at the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
CV-16 was going to be Cabot but was unofficially renamed pretty much as soon as CV-2 went down. Unofficially renamed because CV-2 hadn't yet been stricken from the list. Only until that happened did CV-16 really get the name officially at launch.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
quote:Originally posted by Wraith:
quote: USS George H. W. Bush
For some reason I'm reminded of the incident when George V vetoed Churchill's suggestion that one of the Queen Elizabeth class dreadnoughts be named after William Pitt on the grounds that the ship would be given a scatalogical nickname...
Yeah, but he had a HUGE amount of awesomeness when it came to RMS Queen Mary.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
quote:Originally posted by Wraith: [QUOTE]For some reason I'm reminded of the incident when George V vetoed Churchill's suggestion that one of the Queen Elizabeth class dreadnoughts be named after William Pitt on the grounds that the ship would be given a scatalogical nickname...
Maybe it's because it's late & I'm tired, or maybe I'm just dense, but I'm just not getting this. Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
The shitty pitt?
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
Don't know if any of you know already, but CVN-78 will indeed be named USS Gerald R. Ford. While the US Navy has yet to make the formal announcement, it did confirm the comment made by Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. So we will now have the Ford class of carriers.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Since Ford's death over Christmas, this idea is probably a lot more popular. Personally, I'm not in favor of naming a ship after a person who's still living, but things have recently changed in this case.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Still don't care. He's not worth it. Second ship, sure. Third, fourth, fifth...fine. But not the class. Ugh.
So much for my hopes of Thomas Jefferson.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Jefferson was a total asshole though. A great man in many deeds, but a total prick to everyone that stood in his way to fame and power in later years. America's first real "dirty politician"- far worse than anything we'd tolerate today.
I prefer not naming ships after people- better to stick with ideals and notions of the human spirit...with the occasional mythological creature thrown in for good measure.
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Jefferson was a total asshole though.
Thomas or George?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Davis, perhaps.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
George Jefferson was not an asshole, besides, it'd be funny to see the sailors do that weird side-to-side strut of his.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
As long as there's a Sanford & Son class...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
The USS Lamont Sanford would, of course, be nicknamed The Big Dummy.
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
The USS Aunt Ethel would really pack a wollop.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
I like Executor, personally. Or perhaps Eye of Bush...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Now there's a gender related joke on the making...
Personally I like the USS George W Bush. The motto can be "We survived eight years of this fucker- lt's see you survive five minutes!"
Hmmm...maybe they can make a whole class of the worst Presidents ever.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Hmmm...maybe they can make a whole class of the worst Presidents ever.
Carter already has a sub. But Millard Fillmore & Warren G. Harding are still available...
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)