No. of Recommendations: 4
**Also, note that ships are not named for living persons. Only dead ones.
Actually- not quite true, and i wouldn’t have known that had I not stumbled across an aricle about the naming of the Arleigh Burke (ship and class).
Anyway, there’s been quite a few, though the practice of naming vessels after living presidents (or living “anyone” didn’t resume until 1971:
1970s
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USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) was named in 1974;[5] Carl Vinson, former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, died in 1981, before the ship was commissioned.
1980s
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USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-709) was named in 1983; retired Admiral Hyman Rickover, known as the "Father of the Nuclear Navy", died in 1986.
USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) was named in 1988;[5] John Stennis, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, died in 1995, before the ship was commissioned.
USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) was named in 1989; retired Admiral Arleigh Burke, former 3-term Chief of Naval Operations, died in 1996. Burke spoke at the ship's commissioning on July 4, 1991.
1990s
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Jimmy Carter and a model of the SSN-23
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) was named in 1994;[5] former President Ronald Reagan died in June 2004, eleven months after the ship was commissioned in July 2003.
USNS Bob Hope (T-AKR-300) was named in 1995;[5] Bob Hope, veteran of USO shows spanning 50 years, died in 2003.
USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) was named in 1998[5] for former President and Navy submariner Jimmy Carter. Carter died in December 2024, 19 years after the ship was commissioned.
2000s
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USS Nitze (DDG-94) was named in January 2001;[5] Paul Nitze, former Secretary of the Navy, died in October 2004, before the ship was commissioned.
USS Mustin (DDG-89) was named on December 15, 2001, in honor of the Mustin family that devoted more than a century to U.S. Naval service. Vice Admiral Henry C. Mustin died in April 2016, 13 years after the ship was commissioned, and Lieutenant Commander Thomas M. Mustin died in July 2022.
USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) was named in December 2002[5] for former President and naval aviator George H. W. Bush. Bush died in November 2018, 9 years after his ship was commissioned.
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) was named in October 2006;[5] Gerald R. Ford, former President and carrier officer, died in December 2006, before the ship was commissioned.
USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) was named on November 27, 2006,[5] for retired Rear Admiral Wayne E. Meyer, acclaimed as the father of the Aegis combat system. Meyer died in September 2009 a few weeks before the ship was commissioned.
USS John Warner (SSN-785) was named on January 8, 2009,[5] five days after John Warner, former Navy petty officer, former Marine Corps officer, former Secretary of the Navy, and former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, retired from the U.S. Senate.[6]
2010s
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USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) was named on January 4, 2012,[5] for astronaut and politician John Glenn, who died in 2016.
USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) was named on February 10, 2012, for Gabby Giffords, former member of the House of Representatives from Arizona who survived an assassination attempt in 2011. Navy Secretary Mabus chose the name.[7]
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) was named on May 7, 2012, for Thomas Hudner, retired Naval officer and recipient of the Medal of Honor. Hudner died on November 13, 2017.
USS Paul Ignatius (DDG-117) was named on May 23, 2012, for Paul Robert Ignatius, former Secretary of the Navy and commissioned July 27, 2019. Ignatius died on November 6, 2025 just shy of his 105th birthday and over six years after the ship's commissioning.
USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205) was named on January 6, 2016,[5] for John Lewis, a politician and civil rights activist. Lewis died in 2020.
USS Hershel "Woody" Williams (ESB-4) was named on January 14, 2016,[5] for Hershel W. Williams, a Marine warrant officer and Medal of Honor recipient. Williams died in 2022.
USS Carl M. Levin (DDG-120) was named on April 11, 2016, for Carl M. Levin, a former United States senator from Michigan and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The contract for the ship, along with the name, was announced in a press release from General Dynamics, parent company of Bath Iron Works, on March 31, 2016. Levin died on July 29, 2021.
USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG-124), slated for commissioning in 2024, is to be named for Harvey C. Barnum, Jr., a retired Marine Corps officer and recipient of the Medal of Honor, as announced by Mabus on July 28, 2016.[4]
2020s
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USS John F. Lehman (DDG-137) will be named for John Lehman, a former Secretary of the Navy, as announced by Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite on October 13, 2020.[8]
USS John L. Canley (ESB-6) was named on November 10, 2020,[5] for John L. Canley, a retired Marine Corps sergeant major and Medal of Honor recipient. Canley died in 2022.
USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB-7) was named on January 15, 2021,[5] for Robert E. Simanek, a Marine who received the Medal of Honor. Simanek died in 2022.
USS J. William Middendorf (DDG-138) was named on June 10, 2022,[5] for J. William Middendorf, a U.S. diplomat and former Navy Secretary. Then-Navy Secretary Richard Spencer announced his intention to name a ship after Middendorf in 2020; on January 11, 2023, the Navy announced that Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro had chosen DDG-138.[9]
USNS Robert Ballard (TAGS-67) was named on December 12, 2022,[5] for Robert Ballard, an oceanographer and Navy officer.
USS Thomas G. Kelley (DDG-140) will be named for Thomas G. Kelley, a Navy surface-warfare officer and Medal of Honor recipient.
USS John H. Dalton (SSN-808) will be named for John H. Dalton, a former Secretary of the Navy, as announced by Del Toro on March 1, 2023.[10]
USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) and USS George W. Bush (CVN-83) will be named for former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, as announced by President Joe Biden on January 13, 2025.[11]
USS Ray Mabus (DDG-147), USS Kyle Carpenter (DDG-148), and USS Everett Alvarez, Jr (FFG-68) were all announced by Del Toro on January 15, 2025. Mabus is a former Navy officer who served as Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017. Carpenter is a former Marine Lance Corporal and Medal of Honor recipient. Alvarez is a former Navy officer and pilot who spent nine-years in captivity as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
