Bob Hope has his own class of vehicle cargo ships. And the previously mentioned USNS Bob Hope was launched while he was still alive.
One of my favorite federal government stories involves the Susitna, a prototype naval assault vessel with a deck that can be raised and lowered, double armored hulls, and the ability to plough through ice. The Navy built it at a cost of eighty million dollars, then discovered that they didn’t have any use for it. They simply gave it away to a small Alaskan town that wanted to use it as a ferry, because who wouldn’t want to be ferried on a naval assault vessel? The Alaskan down then discovered that they didn’t have any dock which their new naval assault vessel could load or unload passengers. The cost of keeping the ship in storage is an additional $700,000 per year, on top of the $80,000,000 price tag for building it.
It should be renamed after Bush or Obama, since it showcases the functioning of government in our era so well.
USS George H.W. Bush departs for 2nd Deployment
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=79116
Welcome to the Official Web page of USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH (CVN 77)
http://www.public.navy.mil/airfor/cvn77/Pages/USS%20GEORGE%20H.W.%20BUSH%20(CVN%2077).aspx
The USS Walter Mondale.
Submarine for Clinton, as he likes the thought of someone going down
It’s important to bear in mind that every POTUS has “an association with the Navy,” as they all serve as Commander in Chief.
Nitpick: Churchill was never a Royal Navy officer. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the army, and though he did serve as First Lord of the Admiralty that was a political appointment rather than a commission; it was like being Secretary of Defense. He was also named an honorary US citizen in 1965.
I mean Bush Jr., of course.
Nitpick, it was 1963, by JFK: Honorary Citizen of the United States - International Churchill Society. There was a small display about it at Blenheim, ancestral home of the Churchills, when I last visited there. He was too ill to attend the ceremony, so his son and grandson went in his stead: http://archive2.jfklibrary.org/JFKWHP/1963/Month%2004/Day%2009/JFKWHP-1963-04-09-D/JFKWHP-AR7813-G.jpg
Hijack\ I would be genuinely surprised if Bill Clinton has another couple of decades in him. / Hijack over.
No, something fast. The U.S.S. Now Watch This Drive
Seems to me that it makes sense *to *name something after someone who’s still alive, when they’re still alive to see it.
Just as a data point, Congressman John Lewis, noted civil rights leader (still alive, still in office, never served in the Navy) is getting a ship named after him. It is a replenishment oiler. In fact, since it is the first of a new class of oilers, the whole class will be called the John Lewis class.
Also, rather appropriately, Condoleezza Rice had a Chevron supertanker named after her, but not for very long.
For the healthcare law, Obama should get a hospital ship.
Maybe a submarine for Clinton- you can’t see it doing its work nor appreciate it much but we’re fortunate to have had it.
Bush should get a garbage scow.
Let me rephrase that, laddie.
The G.W. Bush shouldn’t be hauling garbage. It should be hauled away AS garbage. Ha ha ha
No, because you never know what dastardly deeds they’ll go on to do. Could end up being embarrassing.
I personally support the old ten-year rule that the Postal Service used to have for stamps. If some VIP’s reputation is still intact ten years after he or she dies, it’s a safe bet to put the person on a stamp.
The USS Donald Trump will have a flight deck of solid gold.
On a side note, that was proof positive that Elvis was dead. They would not have put him on a stamp if he had still been alive.
I’m waiting to see what the USS Robert S. MacNamara will be like.