Ship Naming

Traditional Ship Naming

• Aircraft Carriers (CV). They were named after either famous battles or other famous ships from the navy's history, such as  USS Lexington ("The Lady Lex"), USS Saratoga ("Old Sara"), USS Ticonderoga, USS Belleau Wood- USS Ranger, USS Essex, USS Enterprise ("Big E"), USS Constellation ("Connie"), USS Wasp, and USS Bon Homme Richard ("Poor Richard").
• Battleships (BB). By law, battleships were named for states, such as USS Arizona, USS Oregon, or USS Texas, except for USS Kearsarge (BB-5). Battleships had unofficial names based upon their names. For examples, the West Virginia was "WeeVee", the California was "The Prune Barge", New York was "The Empire State Battleship", and the Pennsylvania was "The Keystone."
• Battlecruisers (CC). Under the 1916 program, battlecruisers were to receive names of battles or famous ships. When cancelled under the Washington Naval Treaty, two were converted to aircraft carriers, and this became the standard for them, with the exception of USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42), USS Forrestal (CVA-59), and USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63).
• "Battlecruisers" or Large Cruisers (CB). Under the 1940 program, they were named for US Territories, such as USS Alaska, USS Guam, USS Hawaii, and USS Puerto Rico.
• Cruisers, light (CL) and heavy (CA). Cruisers were named for cities in the United States and Territories, such as USS Cleveland, USS San Francisco, USS Baltimore, and USS Atlanta, with the exception of USS Canberra (CA-70) that was named after a foreign city.