Navy to (mis) name another ship (UPDATED)
Doctor D sent us a DoD press advisory announcing that the Secretary of the Navy is about to name a new Independence variant littoral combat ship (LCS) this afternoon. They don’t specifically say what the new ship will be named, but they include this line in the advisory;
Former Rep. Ike Skelton, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and Roxanna Green will be attending the event. Green is the mother of Christina-Taylor Green, the nine-year-old girl who was killed while attending the meeting of constituents where Giffords was shot during an assassination attempt in January 2011.
So, I’m just guessing, but it looks like they’re planning on naming the ship after Christina-Taylor Green. No disrespect to the little girl or her family is intended, but haven’t we lost enough actual members of the Department of the Navy in the last ten years that we can’t name the ship for them rather a pre-pubescient girl? Weren’t there any real heroes whose claim to fame is a little bit more than being an innocent by-stander?
Name a bridge, airport or a highway after her, not a fighting warship. I can’t believe I have to type this.
UPDATE: Zero sends a picture of the new ship;
The same thoughts as above apply. There haven’t been a number of actual Department of the Navy employees who’ve given their lives, we have to name the ship after someone who was shot in a parking lot and survived?
No, her party affiliation has nothing to do with my opinion. We said good things about her on the day BEFORE she was shot.
Category: Navy
I’m beating it’s USS Tuscon.
Betting, even. Jesus. I don’t know what I even did there.
SO, what’s the betting, the USS Taylor-Green, or the USS Christina, or, off the wall, the USS Giffords?
They already have a USS Tucson, its a fast attack sub.
My son’s rabbit died this year. If I petition my Senator can they name the next one after that?
I actually fail to see how it brings the loved one back.
I favor USS Tucson, that covers everyone. Christina has a Little League ball field named for her, more than fitting.
Although I hate the “Squeals” with a passion… it should be named for the MOH (posthumous) SEAL.
Forgot about that a 688 had Tuscon.
Dunno what they’re doing then. LCS is “supposed” to be named for mid-sized cities. Not that naming conventions have meant anything at all in the past few years.
Pick one of the following (off the top of my head): GILMORE, CROMWELL, DEALEY, STREET, FLUCKEY (note: RAMAGE and O’KANE are in current use). Just my $.02. I mean, LCS is supposed to have an (as yet not in production) ASW module, right?
# 7 …. USS Michael Murphy will be commisioned in NYC in SEP of 2012 named after LT (SEAL) Michael P. Murphy, USN, MOH Recipient. How about USS JOHN FINN. John William Finn (July 23, 1909 – May 27, 2010) was a sailor in the United States Navy who, as a chief petty officer, received the United States military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II. As a chief aviation ordnanceman stationed at Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, he earned the medal by manning a machine gun from an exposed position throughout the attack, despite being repeatedly wounded. He continued to serve in the Navy and in 1942 was commissioned an ensign. In 1947 he was reverted back to chief petty officer, eventually rising to the commissioned officer rank of lieutenant, until his 1956 retirement. In his later years he made many appearances at events celebrating veterans. At the time of his death, Finn was the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient and the last living recipient from the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Navy and Marine MOH holders and other important Navy/Marine people get DDGs.
I would be sad if the Navy dishonored the memory of a MOH awardee by naming a LCS after them.
@9- O’Kane and Fluckey for surface ships? If he can break naming conventions with “John Murtha” and “Cesar Cavez” entries, then that dipshit Mabus can certainly name a couple subs after two of the greatest boat skippers in the history of warfare. Also, there’s something not right about naming an ASW ship “O’Kane”. That man treated IJN ASW ships with the same respect that we treat fakes.
USS O’Kane (DDG 77) was commissioned in 1999.
The embittered cynic in me who hasnt had his coffee yet is pretty sure it will be christened the “USS WingNuts Suck and Isnt Obama Dreamy?”
Now, 5 seconds of research turns up numerous women (some Navy, some not) recipients of high military honors.
I am sad for the young Miss Green in Tuscon and her family of course, but it seems the height of political correctness to name a ship after her.
WW1 Navy Nurse Lillian Murphy: posthumous Navy Cross: died in US helping soldiers through the 1918 flu pandemic;
WW1 Army Nurse Marie Hidell: Navy Cross posthumously for the same reasons;
More recently Sgt Leigh Ann Hester (USA) and Spec Monica Brown (USA) were both awarded the Silver Star. Again, not Navy, but…and there are countless other examples.
None of these women have a ship named after them, which is not necessarily to say that they should, but if we’re looking to speficially honor a woman for service and sacrifice, any one of these brave ladies is more suitable than a 9-year old girl sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time, (but who I believe went straight to heaven a split second before the psycho Loughner’s bullet struck her.
Name a local library, park or elementary school after the young Miss, but please not a US Navy vessel.
thanks for listening.
ps – spooky detail: Miss Green was born on 9/11/2001.
@13- In lieu of a proper boat, a ddg will have to do. Doesn’t make it right.
I forgot to add (amng the many other worthy choices) Army CWO and Kiowah pilot Lori Hill, who received the Distinguished Flying Cross for m VPO Cheney himself in 2006.
Again not Navy and again not to say women are more deserving than men. Lord knows American men in combat perform bravely under fire every day and no one ever hears about it.
But going back to the idea of naming it after a 9-year old girl, yeah no.
God I really hope this shit ends after this administration is gone.
Sooo….it’s after 1400. What’s the name?
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/02/navy-next-lcs-named-for-congresswoman-giffords-021012/
FYI – per Navy times, the USS Giffords
Hmm, next I predict the USS James Brady a Gunboat, the USS Generic shot rapper, an FFG, and the USS Osama Ben Laden, a CVN
I am floored. I do not believe it…
I got it back at#3, what do I win?
The ship’s motto will be “DUCK”
Actually, I’m not that much against naming it for Giffords, but I agree there are more appropriate choices out there.
I like that it was your “off the wall”.
Oh jeez. First John “Unindicted Co-Consiprator” Murtha gets a ship named after him; now this.
Nothing against her, but hell at this point we’ll be looking at a Ft. Dude Who Held the Door open for Obama Once in our near future.
oh, this makes my brain hurt (and my butt burn)
@13 they’ll never name a boat for Morton or O’kane because there are a lot of questionable things that early Sub Captains did.
Still there are a TON of historic ship names they can start naming Subs (Barb, Grunion, haddock etc) the Carriers could be (Ranger, Monitor, Serpsis) we don’t have any cruisers in the works but there are plenty of battles we can name them after. Personally I think the job of naming should be left to the CNO and not the Civilians.
If I’m not mistaken SSN 23/USS Jimmy Carter and CVN 77/USS George HW Bush are the only US Navy vessels named after living people. Last I checked, both were Presidents of the United States and decorated Navy veterans.
I admire the courage and determination of the two-term Congresswoman who never served in the military for coming back strong from a near-death experience that traumatized then energized the entire country.
But this is in my view an inexcusable nauseating travesty of political correctness by the Obama administration Navy Department. A plate of Maryland crab cakes says this idea came straight from the WH political shop.
Its cynical, manipulative electioneering that dishonors countless female Naval heroes, about whom this administration seems to know little and care even less. Mention of this will be a staple of Obama speeches all year.
WOW, Gabby Giffords is from my home state and I think this is wrong. Fantastic lady and I got to meet her once but this is so wrong. That she survived this awful tragedy is a miracle but this is way wrong. Did I mention I think this is wrong?
By this logic, Larry Flynt is eligible to have a ship named for him too.
Ray–look at the bright side. At least they haven’t named it after Holly Graf.
Or Nancy Pelosi…but we don’t have any more “stretch” 637’s left anyway.
Coming soon the USS Dodd, and the USS Frank. The second will require and all gay crew, and will Play “in the navy” when returning to port, and while manning the rails all sailors must look fabulous
@13 & @29: USS O’KANE (DDG-77)
@34: We already have the second USS Frank[‘s] Cable, a boat full of tender f@#s 😉
@35 Hey, Hey, Hey! My younger brother is a plank owner of the Frank Cable and he was no “tender f@#!? Unfortunately he was in the Navy but I guess every family has a black sheep!!:o
@31: I have been in contact with, and get updates about, a Marine out at the VA here in Minneapolis (I can’t give his name due to not having his permission to do so at this time), that I met last Fall, who had half his melon blown off from an IED in A-stan. He’s doing well on his recovery, but it’s a long road to go, and he had a new part of skull put in a few weeks ago. Why couldn’t they name the ship after him? He is part of the Dept. of the Navy and a combat wounded Vet with more severe brain injuries than Gabby (no I’m not trying to take away what happened to her or diminish her injuries), after all.
I suppose we’ll soon see: USS Clinton, USS Obama, USS Alinsky, and USS Weatherman
God, I pity the sailor that someday will have to serve on the “USS Barack Obama” super carrier. You all know it is coming guys. At least I am getting “long in the tooth” so I probably won’t be around to witness that!
“A plate of Maryland crab cakes says this idea came straight from the WH political shop”. No doubt, Mike. This has the greasy, slimy fingerprints of Axelfraud all over it.
Call me cynical, this is an attempt to take the spotlight off of F & F and the border mess by saying,”look at me, I named a ship after that heroic Arizonan, Gabrielle Giffords, who, incidentally was shot because of the Tea Party”.
Sickening. Really, really disgusting. And what respect I might have previously had for the member of Congress evaporates with her acceptance of this unearned honor.
Learn to swim.
Cuz I’m praying for rain
And I’m praying for tidal waves
I wanna see the ground give way.
I wanna watch it all go down.
Mom please flush it all away.
I wanna watch it go right in and down.
I wanna watch it go right in.
Watch you flush it all away.
Time to bring it down again.
Don’t just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
The hijacking of ship names for political purposes really started coming to the fore when they started naming carriers after presidents and politicians, instead of sticking to famous battles and ships. USS Stennis? USS Vinson? Really? *gag*
What really gripes me is that USS Enterprise (CV(N)-65), a ship whose predecessor (CV-6) was the most decorated and historic Navy vessel of WW2 (and perhaps for the entire history of the Navy) will be retired in 2013. Instead of naming one of the next two new-construction carriers “Enterprise”, they are naming the next one “Gerald Ford” and the one after that “John Kennedy”.
WTF. “Enterprise” is a name that richly deserves to be carried on through the ages. Instead, it’s hitting a dead end for political expediency. What a travesty!
Stop naming ships after living people first. Second, again has no one in the US military or the Department of the Navy, done anything worthy of inspiration to name a ship after? If not the last 10 years? Then ever? No historical event, person, place, or deed to commerate?
I mean you have to make a real effort to fuck this up. That seems to be a guideing principle not an occasional error these days in DOD.
Hey Up North, your comment was great until you spewed that ridiculous bull about her being shot because of the Tea Party! She was shot by a wacked out commited Marxist Leftist! Obama was one of his heros on his facebook page! Wise up and stop drinking the koolaid!
MnProud: I’m pretty sure UpNorth was simply repeating the ridiculous BS we all heard initially from the liberal side (and, if I recall, from the Obama administration itself) about Giffords’ assailant. I rather doubt he’s seriously advocating that statement.
If you read his post again, I believe you’ll find that statement in quotes. That typically either means it’s a direct quotation or “take with large grain of salt”.
I guess I should have done this? “look at me, I named a ship after that heroic Arizonan, Gabrielle Giffords, who, incidentally was shot because of the Tea Party”.
Then, there would be no misunderstanding? The internet really does need a sarcasm font, then everyone would get it.