Ship Naming
Page 7 of 10
- Cruisers, Guided Missile, nuclear (CGN). After the first nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser, USS Long Beach (CGN-9), last US warship built on a true cruiser hull, CGN's of the California and Virginia classes were named for states. Bainbridge and Truxtun were first commissioned as frigates but later classified as CGN’s).
- Destroyers (DD) and Destroyer Escorts (DE). They were named for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard heroesm such as USS Fletcher, USS Farragut, USS Decatur, USS Cole, USS Truxtun, USS The Sullivans, and USS John Paul Jones.
- Frigates. Frigates (DL), formerly destroyer leaders, were named after naval heroes. In 1975, they were reclassified as either cruisers or destroyers. Frigates (FF), formerly ocean escorts, were also named for naval heroes. The reclassified frigates retained their destroyer names.
- Submarines (SS) and Submarines, Nuclear (SSN). They were either given a class letter and number, as in S class submarine, or the names of fish, marine mammals and crustaceans, such as USS Nautilus USS Squalus, USS Wahoo, USS Bonito, USS Gato, USS Albacore, USS Skipjack, USS Scorpion, and USS Thresher.
- Oilers (AO and AOR). They were named for rivers with Native American names, and colliers named for mythical figures.