Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military
From: terryr@ogccse.ogc.edu (Terry Rooker)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Naval vessel naming conventions
Message-ID: <11199@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 7 Nov 89 02:17:36 GMT
References: <11070@cbnews.ATT.COM> <11114@cbnews.ATT.COM> <11159@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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From: terryr@ogccse.ogc.edu (Terry Rooker)
In article <11159@cbnews.ATT.COM> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
>
>
>From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
>>From: terryr@ogccse.ogc.edu (Terry Rooker)
>>... The Vinson, Rickover, and
>>Jackson (Henry) were all named solely for political reasons...
>
>Well, be fair.  Dunno about Jackson, but Rickover was about as
>important in the history of the US Navy as any one admiral could
>possibly be, and if I recall correctly, Vinson was the best friend
>the USN ever had in Washington.  I don't think naming ships after
>people of major importance in USN history is "political reasons".
>
>                                     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology

 I was being fair.  They are political in that they all violated the
 naming conventions for their class.  I'd have to research dates, but
 I believe that both the Vinson and Rickover names were chosen before
 the men were dead, breaking a long standing tradition.  Vinson was 
 the best freind of the navy, and the carrier was named for him because
 he was responsible for the continued existence of the supercarriers.
 Not incidentally, his constituency included the Norfolk naval complex
 and Newport News shipyards (guess where the carriers are built).  If
 that isn't a pork barrel I don't know what is.  
 
 Billy Mitchel was also important to the navy, but I don't see 
 any major vessels named after him.  Many will argue that 
 Rickover's influence was negative.  It will take a long time to 
 resolve, so naming the sub was premature.  It was a token to 
 Rickover's supporters after Lehman forced him out. 

 As a side note, Rickover's legacy may even be haunting the commercial 
 nuclear power industry.  I read an article years ago that the size
 of the navy's nuclear power program forced decisions on the civilian
 program.  Unfortunately, the design constraints for a naval reactor, 
 are very different from those of a commercial power plant.  If any
 one is interested I can dig out the reference.