page_title: List of U.S. military vessels named after living Americans
hierarchical_section_title: List of U.S. military vessels named after living Americans
caption_attribution_description: 021209-N-2383B-001 Arlington, Va., The Pentagon (Dec. 9, 2002) -- Former President George H.W. Bush (center), the 41st President of the United States examines a model of CVN 77, the U.S. Navy’s 10th Nimitz-class aircraft carrier officially named USS George H.W. Bush by The Honorable Gordon England, Secretary of the Navy, at a ceremony held in the Pentagon. Photographed from left to right are Adm. Vern Clark, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Gordon England, Secretary of the Navy, former President George H.W. Bush, Senator John Warner, R-Va., and General James L. Jones, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.
context_page_description: The naming of United States Navy vessels after living people was common in early decades of American history, but by World War II, the Navy had firmly established a practice of naming ships for people only after they had died. In 1969, a Navy panel decreed that warships would no longer be named after living persons. That lasted until 1974, when President Richard Nixon announced the naming of an aircraft carrier after United States Representative Carl Vinson. Since then, ships such as the Arleigh Burke, Bob Hope, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Gabrielle Giffords have been named for people still alive at the time.
  The U.S. Navy generally announces the name of a ship some time before it is launched, and well before it is accepted for purchase and commissioned into active service.
context_section_description: The naming of United States Navy vessels after living people was common in early decades of American history, but by World War II, the Navy had firmly established a practice of naming ships for people only after they had died.  In 1969, a Navy panel decreed that warships would no longer be named after living persons. That lasted until 1974, when President Richard Nixon announced the naming of an aircraft carrier after United States Representative Carl Vinson.  Since then, ships such as the Arleigh Burke, Bob Hope, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Gabrielle Giffords have been named for people still alive at the time.
  The U.S. Navy generally announces the name of a ship some time before it is launched, and well before it is accepted for purchase and commissioned into active service.
caption: Former president George H. W. Bush views a model of USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), the aircraft carrier named after him.
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