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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/world/asia/navy-ship-mccain-search-sailors.html
Search teams scrambled Monday to determine the fate of 10 missing Navy sailors after a United States destroyer collided with an oil tanker off the coast of Singapore, the second accident involving a Navy ship and a cargo vessel in recent months.
The guided-missile destroyer, the John S. McCain, was passing east of the Strait of Malacca on its way to a port visit in Singapore at 5:24 a.m. local time, before dawn broke, when it collided with the Alnic MC, a 600-foot vessel that transports oil and chemicals, the Navy said. The destroyer was damaged near the rear on its port, or left-hand, side.
Half a day after the crash, 10 sailors on the ship remained unaccounted for. Five others were injured, none with life-threatening conditions, a Navy official said. Ships with the Singapore Navy and helicopters from the assault ship America were rushing to search for survivors.
Also at Reuters.
Previously: U.S. Navy Destroyer Collides With Container Vessel
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 21 2017, @05:11PM (13 children)
They've really dropped the bar regarding waiting until people are dead to christen naval vessels after them, huh?
Other notables: Jimmy Carter (a sub), George H.W. Bush (A carrier), anyone else have a list of others?
(Score: 5, Informative) by EvilSS on Monday August 21 2017, @05:16PM (1 child)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_S._McCain_(DDG-56) [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 21 2017, @05:30PM
So there is at least a valid reason for it, unlike many of the later ones.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Monday August 21 2017, @05:22PM (9 children)
The US Navy has an absolutely horrible track record for naming ships these days (post WWII). They used to have some pretty cool names, like the Wasp or Hornet (WWII aircraft carriers), and also names for historically significant places (Essex, Lexington). Subs used to be named after fish.
Now ship naming is done to curry favor with politicians so they can get more funding. That's the reason one carrier was named the John C. Stennis, after a Mississippi congressman, and likely why the McCain got its name. Carter, not being a big war-hawk, got stuck with a submarine instead of a carrier, though he was President and not some Congressman. Subs are now named after states and cities, even when those states or cities are completely land-locked and nowhere near anyplace a sub could travel. They name them after cities again to curry favor with politicians and get more funding.
The real masters of ship-naming are the British, with names like HMS Defiant and HMS Invincible. Those are names even the Klingons would be proud of (after translating of course).
(Score: 4, Informative) by Nuke on Monday August 21 2017, @07:02PM (5 children)
The USN used to call battleships after states (landlocked or not - they all paid taxes), cruisers after cities, submarines after fish and destroyers after men, usually naval captains. Actually they ran out of recognisable fish names so they started making them up. They first named carriers after battles but then also used fanciful names like "Enterprise" and "Independence", more like the British convention for battleships and carriers. After WW2 the USN also named carriers after presidents and admirals. The British did not distinguish between battleship and carrier names because some of the first carriers were converted from battleships and kept their names, like "Glorious" and "Courageous".
Trouble is with the USN that battleships are no more, and destroyers, once minor ships, have become their equivalent in firepower but still seem to keep the name tradition.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday August 21 2017, @07:11PM (4 children)
It was never a great system, but it was better in the past with at least the subs and carriers having some decent names. IMO, naming a ship after a person is just a stupid idea, living or dead. If they're alive, it looks like some kind of major butt-kissing, and if they're dead that person can still be controversial. Fish aren't controversial; no one's going to be offended that the ship they're serving on is named the "Barracuda", but someone who's a minority might be offended at serving on a ship named after a slave-owner or a supporter of racist policies. Naming things for natural things, or for fanciful names like "Enterprise", "Defiant", "Independence" avoids all this, plus those kinds of concepts are generally things we hold in high regard as humans.
And how can they run out of fish names? There's tons of fish in the sea, and many of them also have multiple common names. Plus, the Navy regularly reuses ship names, so they only need as many fish names as the number of submarines currently in service. Ok, I guess they might want to shy away from some of the names: it probably wouldn't go over that well if they named a submarine the "USS Clownfish"....
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 21 2017, @08:22PM
Dunno man, it would be bad for the enemy's morale to learn they got sunk by a clownfish.
I say: instead of naming military gear after predators and big game, name them after small and cuddly animals!
Your boat got sunk by USNS Titmouse, your 14th wing was taken out by the Baby Gecko Strike Group & your mobile missile command was gobbled up by our Obese Panda special forces.
(Score: 3, Funny) by mhajicek on Monday August 21 2017, @08:56PM
USS Bloater
USS Slimehead
USS Spiny Lumpsucker
USS Slippery Dick
Plenty of fish names left...
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 1) by dwilson on Tuesday August 22 2017, @05:36AM (1 child)
Oh my god, somebody might be -offended-?
Good. Fuck 'em. The world is a big, complicated place. Feelings take last place when you are serving on a ship of war, ready to kill or be killed for your country.
- D
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @07:26AM
That might not work so well when you realize that "your" country is actually a bunch of racist assholes.
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Monday August 21 2017, @10:42PM
Don't forget HMS Thunder Child!
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Monday August 21 2017, @10:44PM
Or HMS Polyphemus [wikipedia.org]
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 23 2017, @03:50PM
To be fair to the Navy, they were probably not trying to slight President Carter. I think it is more likely they put his name on a submarine because he served on a nuclear submarine when he was in the Navy.
I do agree that using peoples name for ships is both boring and somewhat inappropriate. It seems particularly inappropriate when the namesake is currently living.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 21 2017, @05:27PM
I'd counter that you've really dropped the bar on knowing what the fuck you're talking about to comment, but I'd imagine it was always pretty abysmally low.