United States ship naming conventions

Traditional conventions

• Battleships, by law, were named for states, except for, which was named after a mountain in Merrimack County and a civil war sloop.
• Battlecruisers under the 1916 program were to receive names of battles or famous U.S Navy ships with significant overlap since several famous U.S. Navy ships were named after Revolutionary War battles. and were completed as aircraft carriers after the battle cruisers were cancelled under the Washington Naval Treaty and this became the standard for aircraft carriers with the exception of,,,, and, Langley, Wright and Kitty Hawk all being references to aviation. Escort Carriers were initially named after bays and sounds though many received battle names while under construction. Escort carriers that appear to be named for cities or islands like or were actually named for battles fought at those locations.
• Large cruisers under the 1940 program were named for United States territories.
• Cruisers, both light and heavy, were named for cities in the United States and its territories, with the exception of, which is named after and Canberra, the capital of Australia, making USS Canberra the only U.S. warship named for a foreign warship and foreign capital city.
• * After the first nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser,, CGNs of the and es were named for states..
• Destroyers and Destroyer Escorts were named for Navy and Marine Corps heroes, with the exception of;
• *, named for Douglas Albert Munro the only member of the Coast Guard to ever receive the Medal of Honor but who was under the command of the US Navy at the time rather than the peacetime command of the Department of the Treasury.
• Destroyer leaders were likewise named after naval heroes; these were reclassified as cruisers or destroyers in 1975.
• Frigates, formerly ocean escorts, were also named for naval heroes.
• Submarines were either given a class letter and number, as in S-class submarines, or the names of fish and marine mammals.
• Gunboats named for smaller US cities and river gunboats were named for islands
• Oilers were named for rivers with Native American names, and colliers named for mythical figures.
• Fast combat support ships were named after US cities.
• Ammunition ships were named either after volcanoes or words relating to fire and explosions.
• Combat stores ships were named after stars and other heavenly bodies.
• Minesweepers were named for birds, or after "positive traits," e.g. and.
• Hospital ships were given names related to their function, such as and.
• Fleet tugs and harbor tugs were named after American Indian tribes.
• The first forty-one nuclear ballistic missile submarines were named after historical statesmen considered "Great Americans."
• Landing ship, tank built for the United States Navy during and immediately after World War II were only given an LST-number hull designation, but on 1 July 1955, county or Louisiana-parish names were assigned to those ships which remained in service. More recent LSTs were named on launching.

  Contemporary ship naming conventions and their exceptions

• Aircraft carriers, have a history of various legacy names, mostly battles, until 1968, with the commissioning of. Since then, carriers have been named for U.S. presidents, with the exception of;
• *USS Enterprise; there is a continuing exception for this name, first used in 1775, eight ships have carried the name, three of them aircraft carriers.
• *, lead ship of her class, named for Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of all U.S. and Allied naval forces in the Pacific theatre during World War II,
• *, named for a former Congressman, Chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee, Chairman of the successor United States House Committee on Armed Services, a strong supporter of the Navy through the "Vinson Acts" who became known as "The Father of the Two-Ocean Navy",
• *, named for a former United States Senator, President pro tempore of the Senate, Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, and a strong supporter of the navy, who became known as "Father of America's modern navy".
• *, named after cook Dorie Miller who served at Pearl Harbor in 1941.
• Amphibious assault ships are named after early U.S. sailing ships, U.S. Marine Corps battles, or legacy names of earlier carriers from World War II
• Amphibious command ships are named for geographical areas within the U.S..
• Amphibious transport docks are named after U.S. cities, with the exception of the following:
• *, named after Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado
• *, named for the State of New York, after a special request for the name was made by NY State Governor George E. Pataki to the Navy shortly after the September 11 attacks of 2001,
• *, named for Arlington County, Virginia, where Flight 77 crashed into The Pentagon during the September 11 attacks of 2001,
• *, named for Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed during the September 11 attacks of 2001,
• *, named for a former U.S. Marine Corps Officer, Vietnam veteran, former Congressman and chairman of the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense,
• *, named for a World War II Naval Officer and Medal of Honor recipient
• Auxiliary Repair Drydocks are named after towns having nuclear power generators or nuclear research facilities.
• Ballistic missile submarines are named dependent on class;
• *, are named after states, with the exception of;
• **, named for a former U.S. Senator and strong supporter of the military
• * thus far the Navy has only announced the name of the lead boat,, named for the District of Columbia. The Navy has yet to announce a particular naming scheme for this class.
• Cruisers are named after battles, with the exception of, a named for a former Secretary of Defense.
• Destroyers names are dependent on class;
• *, a class of a planned 77 ships, that may be extended to as many as 118, that was originally to retain the traditional naming convention for destroyers, that of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps leaders and heroes. Some of these leaders are men who fought in the Revolutionary War as a part of the original Continental Navy, while others took part in the early days of the U.S. Navy fighting in the Quasi and Barbary Wars, the War of 1812, the Civil War and the Spanish–American War. In these early conflicts and right through to World War II and up to the current War on Terror, many sailors and marines, from cooks to SEALs to Marine Commandants and Fleet Admirals, distinguished themselves in battle, earning the Medal of Honor or Navy Cross,. In the 21st century, the Navy has broadened the term "leaders and heroes" to include politicians, such as U.S. Senators and Navy Secretaries, who made significant contributions to the Navy away from the battlefield, and men and women of the Navy Department who have become pioneers in the fields of technology and strategy as well as for civil rights, breaking through barriers for women and minorities. Along with all those named for the above listed criteria, are the following exceptions;
• **, named for navy Seabee diver Robert Stethem, who was taken hostage by terrorist group Hezbollah aboard hijacked civilian TWA Flight 847. He was identified as U.S. military, tortured, murdered and his body then deposited on the tarmac at the Beirut airport,
• **, named for five brothers who were all lost when their light cruiser, was sunk by the Japanese at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, which lead to the War Department adopting the Sole Survivor Policy,
• **, named for Marine Corps Colonel William R. Higgins, who while on a UN Peacekeeping mission to Lebanon, was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by terrorists,
• **, named for the renowned Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II,
• **, named for the entire Mustin family, with extensive ties to the Navy, and among which family members are 18 officers, 10 of which are flag or general rank,
• **, named for a U.S. Senator and former U.S. Army officer awarded the Medal of Honor in WWII,
• **, named for a U.S. Senator for Alaska and former Army Air Forces pilot who served in the China Burma India Theater during WWII, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. Popular in his home state,, his 40-year Senate career was abruptly ended by a criminal prosecution, in late 2008, during his bid for re-election. The resulting conviction was later vacated due to gross prosecutoral misconduct, which caused widespread outrage. He was killed a year later in a plane crash.
• *, ;
• **Lead ship, named for Elmo Zumwalt, the youngest Admiral to serve as Chief of Naval Operations, and who played a significant role during the Vietnam War,
• **2nd ship, named for a former Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient killed in action during the Iraq War,
• **3rd ship, named for a former U.S. president and U.S. naval officer who was awarded the Silver Star during WW II
• Dock landing ships are named after cities or important places in U.S. and U.S. naval history.
• Dry cargo ships are named for U.S. explorers, pioneers, activists and U.S. naval officers.
• Expeditionary fast transports are named for U.S. cities, with the exception of;
• *, the lead ship of her class, named after a similar ship of the same name,, previously in service with the US Army,
• *, named for 3 different counties with the same name in the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma,
• *, named for an unincorporated territory of the U.S., located in the Caribbean
• Expeditionary Transfer Dock and their sub-variant, Expeditionary Mobile Base, have been named for U.S. Marine Corps heroes, with the exception of;
• *, the lead ship of the class, named in honor of African American Marine Corps recruits who trained at Montford Point Camp, North Carolina, from 1942 to 1949.
• Fast attack submarines names are dependent on class;
• *, named after cities, with the exception of, named for an Admiral who was a pioneer of the nuclear Navy
• *, ;
• **Lead boat;, named for the Atlantic wolffish, and the fourth submarine to carry the name,
• **2nd boat;, named for a U.S. state,
• **3rd boat;, named for a former U.S. president, and Naval officer who while had trained in nuclear propulsion, was only able to serve aboard diesel electric submarines before leaving the Navy.
• *, named after U.S. states, with the exception of;
• **, named for a former Secretary of the Navy, U.S. Senator from Virginia, and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services,
• **, named for an Admiral and pioneer of the nuclear Navy. This is the second boat to carry the name
• Fast combat support ships are named for distinguished supply ships of the past.
• Frigates retain their traditional naming conventions of being named after U.S. Navy and Marine Corps leaders and heroes. As of 2019, the U.S. Navy does not have any active frigates in service, but does have an active acquisition program, with a contacts expected to be awarded by 2020. The last active class was the 51-ship, all of which were retired by 2015.
• Littoral combat ships are named for regionally-important U.S. cities and communities. Exceptions are the lead ships of the first two classes for this type;
• *, lead ship of her class, named for the concept of freedom,
• *, lead ship of her class, named for the concept of independence,
• *, an LCS named for a former Congresswoman, member of the United States House Committee on Armed Services and survivor of an assassination attempt,
• *, an Independence-class LCS named after the Australian heavy cruiser, for her valor at the Battle of Savo Island, and the city of Canberra, the capital of Australia, making it the only littoral combat ship named after a foreign warship and foreign capital.
• Mine countermeasures ships have mostly legacy names of previous U.S. Navy ships, especially WWII-era minesweepers.
• Patrol boats have names based on weather phenomena.
• Replenishment oilers were conventionally named for rivers. An exception is the current, 18-ship, the first half of which were named for shipbuilders, industrialists, marine and aeronautical engineers. The remaining half of the class, returned to the previous convention of river names. While river names is the de jure convention, for the next class of oilers, the, the Navy announced that they will be named after prominent civil rights activists and leaders. There are 20 ships planned for this class, with the first six ordered and named by the end of 2018.