Members of the Naval Academy Class of 1982 at the 2015 CNO Change of Command Ceremony. Photo by Andy Shelter
Thirty-seven years ago, the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1982 graduated and set out for their first assignments in the service.
Today, one of the classmates retires after reaching the pinnacle of Navy service: Chief of Naval Operations. Read More
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) displays holiday lighting while moored at its homeport of Naval Air Station North Island. US Navy photo
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) has been tapped by the Navy to be the service’s next forward deployed carrier in Japan and move USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) to Naval Station San Diego, U.S. Pacific Fleet announced late Tuesday night. Read More
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the U.S. Navy had no formal procedure for naming ships. It wasn’t until 1819 that Congress passed an act stating “all of the ships, of the Navy of the United States, now building, or hereafter to be built, shall be named by the Secretary of the Navy.” The secretary has fulfilled this role ever since, even though the passage expressly assigning authority for designating ship names was omitted when the U.S. Code was revised in 1925.
In addition to recommendations from Congress and the president, the secretary traditionally has been guided by a rather loose set of naming conventions—cruisers were to be named for battles, attack submarines for U.S. cities, destroyers for Navy and Marine heroes, and so forth. Controversy has erupted whenever the choice of a name strayed too far from those conventions, was seemingly swayed by politics, or deemed inappropriate for various reasons. Read More
