The Long & Undisciplined History of Navy Ship-Naming

Congress is taking aim at the Navy tradition of selecting untraditional names for its new ships and submarines. A report by the Congressional Research Service, a public policy research institute for Congress, found inconsistencies and exceptions to traditional ship-naming protocols stoke public perception that the process is rife with politics. “Observers have perceived a breakdown in, or corruption of, the rules,” according to the report released in February.