US Navy Starts Work on Next Class of Carriers [Brian's Military Ping List]

National Defense Magazine ^ | May 2003 | Harold Kennedy

[Non-Sequitur]

Scratch USS Wasp. That's the name of the current LHD-1. My bad.

[AngrySpud]

If that day ever comes, the USS Bill Clinton should be an inflatable dinghy, whose first commanding officer should order it to be scuttled over the Marianas Trench (deepest place in the oceans).

[Teacher317]

I prefer a boat that earns its own way into the history books, and doesn't ride on the shoulders of our beloved giants.

Plus I'd bet that the more superstitious sailors out there would get itchy about the historical problems their namesake went through.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Good point. Most of it will be underwater.

[VaBthang4]

You know...we need to preempt the Liberals from ever getting that opportunity....we should go ahead and name some cheesy little Naval Reserve boats the USS Bill Clinton and USS James Carter in order to keep these morons from using it on our meat eaters.


BTW: I served a med float on the WASP. Beautiful boat and alot of creature comforts. Good cafeteria and a decent gym. Library sucked but the Ships store was always decent and the candy machines were always filled.

[qam1]

(Interesting... only six of the 77 carriers hulls were ever sunk by enemy action! The Langley, Lexington, Princeton, Hornet, Wasp, and Yorktown, all from 1942 to 1951.)

I didn't think any Carrier was sunk after WWII in 1945.

[harpo11]

Just don't name any of these fine ships the USS Impeached President Clinton.

[Cobra64]

I want one for Fathers Day.

[World'sGoneInsane]

I hope they redesign those helicopters too. There must be a better one that we haven't thought of yet.

[Prodigal Son]

An electromagnetic aircraft launching system will replace the steam-powered system used on current ships.

Is this like a rail gun?

Instead, they chose to meet the president’s stated goal to “skip a generation” of technology.

This President will be remembered as a visionary.

We are already leagues ahead of any other nation in this department and oceans ahead of any country that is potentially a threat to us. The Arab world had their nose rubbed in that fact quite recently and they still haven't got their minds around it yet. What's it going to be like when we "skip a generation" of tech? Jeezuz! If we're giants striding the face of the globe now, what'll we be then?

The only thing that worries me is the super cavitating torpedo thing. I have to trust that that the military is keeping an eye on this because it is something that could fundamentally change the equation in the favor of our enemies. This will be one of the major challenges I think for our adversaries in the future- negating American Air and Naval power generally and the aircraft carrier in particular. We cannot allow Russia or China to perfect such a torpedo or a delivery platform for it.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Princeton, CVL-23, was the last carrier sunk due to enemy action, on 24 October 1944.

[Salo]

Jimmy Carter was a terrible President, and a worse ex-President, but he served as an officer on submarines. I have heard he served with distinction, but I do not know if that is factual. I see nothing wrong with naming a submarine after him. They should name a brig after Clinton.

[VOA]

Jimmy Carter was a terrible President, and a worse ex-President, but he served
as an officer on submarines. I have heard he served with distinction,
but I do not know if that is factual.

I know it's just an example of how a person can be great in one job and stink in
another...but even as a civilian, I've always had a hard time believing that
Jimmy made it past the interview process to get into Admiral Rickover's Nuclear Navy.

As for naming ships/buildings/etc. after people, I'm definitely "old school" on that...
maybe pass the bill designating that their name will be so honored while they are
alive...but not attached to a ship/building until they've parted this life.

[jdege]

No, it wasn't.

27 Feb 42	USS Langley	CV-1	attacked by bombers off Java, abandoned and scuttled
8 May 42	USS Lexington	CV-2	sunk by aerial torpedoes in Battle of Coral Sea
7 Jun 42	USS Yorktown	CV-5	damaged by aircraft on 4 Jun during Battle of Midway, torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-168
15 Sep 42	USS Wasp	CV-7	torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-19 south of Guadalcanal
26 Oct 42	USS Hornet	CV-8	sunk after being damaged by aircraft torpedoes during Battle of Santa Cruz
24 Nov 43	USS Liscome Bay	CVE-56	torpedoed and sunk by I-175 off Gilbert Islands
29 May 44	USS Block Island	CVE-21	torpedoed and sunk by U-549 northwest of Canary Islands
24 Oct 44	USS Princeton	CVL-23	sunk after being damaged by aircraft bombs east of Luzon during the Battle of Leyte Gulf
4 Jan 45	USS Ommaney Bay	CVE-79	sunk by kamikaze south of Mindoro, Philippine Islands
21 Feb 45	USS Bismarck Sea	CVE-95	sunk by kamikaze off Iwo Jima

[Saturnalia]

Yes it does operate like a rail gun. Speaking of which, I've seen VERY preliminary plans to fit rail guns on destroyers for use as fire support.
Mind you this would be a generation or two beyond DD-21.

[Paleo Conservative]

In keeping with the current trend of naming carriers after living Presidents, be ready for the USS Jimmie Carter -- the "Peace Ship". After all, Jimmie was a Navy officer, a nuclear officer. And after two Republican names, the liberals will howl for "fairness".

There's no danger of that happening. There's already a "Jimmy Carter" which is a Seawolf class submarine. Here's a quote from JC, "If I had a choice between a submarine and an airport, I'd choose a submarine." Of course Ronald Reagan has both an aircraft carrier and an airport name after him.

U.S.S. Jimmy Carter SSN-23

[Paleo Conservative]

What will the USS Bill Clinton be, an aircraft carrier, a destroyer, a submarine, or a garbage scow?

A Chinese junk.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Escort Carriers aren't on the Navy's list. The Jeep carriers, CVEs, were not the subject of the original post, either.

[Paleo Conservative]

Teddy Roosevelt is CVN 71, Lincoln is CVN 72, and Enterprise is CVN 65... all still active.

Why not James K. Polk?

Lot's of historians rate him highly. During his term, the US won the Mexican-American war, and expanded the territory of the US all the way from Texas to California. This made the US a truly continental nation, and ulimately made the US the preeminent power in the world today.

[okie01]

i>"...wait'll the next Democrat elected to the Oval Office. There will be a carrier named after Clinton, mark my word."

The Theodore Roosevelt is known as "The Big Stick". The Harry S Truman's motto is "Give 'em Hell".

How would you like to be in your dress whites, forming up on deck, so as to spell out "Slick Willie" for the aerial cameras...???