New carrier to be named USS Gerald R. Ford

[Okla-homey]

$20B for another floating piece of America. Money well spent!

Nothing says lovin' like a carrier off your coast!

Ford is currently scheduled to be laid down in 2009, concurrently or nearly so with the commissioning of USS George H. W. Bush. Construction work has already begun; on August 11, 2005, Northrop Grumman held a ceremonial steel cut for a 15-ton plate that will form part of a side shell unit of the carrier. If construction of the carrier remains on schedule the new ship should join the U.S. Navy’s active fleet as a fully commissioned warship in 2015. Ford is slated to replace the current Enterprise, ending her 50 plus years of service with the United States Navy.

Me likey.

P.S. I wonder if they'll invite Chevy Chase to the christening?
P.P.S. If the donks wonder why they get no carriers named for them, it's prolly cuz of their record of defense.

[jk the sooner fan]

jimmy carter has a new submarine named after him - at least i think so

[Harry Beanbag]

Yeah, they skipped right over Clinton for some reason. There is a Harry Truman that was launched in the '90s, of course he wasn't weak on defense either.

And Carter was a nuclear officer on submarines back in the '50s, so that stands to reason why he got a sub instead of a carrier.

[1stTimeCaller]

who is in charge of the naming of ships and boats? SecNav? DoD? Congress? Was there a pole on here that I missed?

[Harry Beanbag]

who is in charge of the naming of ships and boats? SecNav? DoD? Congress? Was there a pole on here that I missed?


This link says the SecNav does it all on his own, but I'm guessing there is some politics involved. This also shows the naming conventions that are used for each class of ship.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/names.htm


Originally, the Ronald Reagan was scheduled to be named United States, probably had a lot to do with the hull number 76, but they ended up changing it.

[crawfish]

Cool. That leaves "Enterprise" available for our space fleet, then. :D

[Hamhock]

i hope somebody does a cool documentary of the thing being built.

[Mjcpr]

You just know that thing is going to run aground somewhere or crash into another boat or something.

[TUSooner]

You just know that thing is going to run aground somewhere or crash into another boat or something.
heh

[jk the sooner fan]

You just know that thing is going to run aground somewhere or crash into another boat or something.

i also heard that they're going to name its harbor the "betty ford harbor"

you know, a place for ailing ships to go and get better

[picasso]

that's not funny guys.

I did read that in honor of the former president, there will be a side gun loaded with golf balls.