Naval Gazing
Joseph of Belgravia Dispatch has a pet peeve which I share.
He thinks it's a bad idea to name anything after a living politician, and I agree. It's also a shame to put bureaucrats' names on such important symbols of national pride, paid for by all Americans and worked by our sons and daughters. Only a few national heroes rise to the level of having a capital ship named for them, probably fewer than 10.
It's also a shame to waste a chance to recycle one of the glory-mantled ship names from American naval history. My list of the best aircraft carrier names, most of which are available for recycling:
LEXINGTON
SARATOGA
RANGER
YORKTOWN
ENTERPRISE
WASP
HORNET
INTREPID
TICONDEROGA
INDEPENDENCE
BATAAN
ORISKANY
REPRISAL
ANTIETAM
UNITED STATES
AMERICA
Worst names, available for recycling but not worth it, would have to include SHANGRI-LA and KITTY HAWK. I understand the concept, at least in the second one, but it just doesn't work.
The Navy is having an aircraft carrier built in Virginia (designated CVN-77) that is scheduled to enter service in 2009, replacing the retiring U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. The ship will be named U.S.S. George H. W. Bush.
This isn't the first time the Navy has chosen to honor retired politicians by naming capital ships after them. The lead ship in the Nimitz class bears the name of an actual admiral, but two of the remaining eight (Vinson and Stennis) are named after former chairmen of Congressional Armed Services Committees.
He thinks it's a bad idea to name anything after a living politician, and I agree. It's also a shame to put bureaucrats' names on such important symbols of national pride, paid for by all Americans and worked by our sons and daughters. Only a few national heroes rise to the level of having a capital ship named for them, probably fewer than 10.
It's also a shame to waste a chance to recycle one of the glory-mantled ship names from American naval history. My list of the best aircraft carrier names, most of which are available for recycling:
LEXINGTON
SARATOGA
RANGER
YORKTOWN
ENTERPRISE
WASP
HORNET
INTREPID
TICONDEROGA
INDEPENDENCE
BATAAN
ORISKANY
REPRISAL
ANTIETAM
UNITED STATES
AMERICA
Worst names, available for recycling but not worth it, would have to include SHANGRI-LA and KITTY HAWK. I understand the concept, at least in the second one, but it just doesn't work.
