Navy Names Ship for Wounded Congresswoman Giffords

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Friday he was naming the fleet's tenth littoral combat ship "USS Gabrielle Giffords," for the former Arizona congresswoman gravely wounded in an assassination attempt last year.

The ship's sponsor -- whose initials will be engraved in its keel and who will crack the traditional champagne bottle at its christening -- will be Roxanna Green, a Tucson woman whose nine year-old daughter, Christina, was killed in the mass shooting.

The use of "Gabrielle Giffords" is the Navy's latest break with its own conventions for ship names. Traditionally, warships take names on a consistent theme -- destroyers are named for naval heroes; cruisers named for victories in battle. But of late, the Navy has returned to a fast-and-loose application of its own standards, which at times has sparked controversy.

In his remarks at the Pentagon, Mabus did not mention the break with the LCS naming convention, which began with inspiring concepts -- "Freedom" and "Independence" -- and moved onto cities, including "Milwaukee" and "Coronado." He said Giffords was being honored because she "fought for our service men and women while they fought for our country."

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Giffords' work also helped with the Navy's commitment to use more alternative fuels and renewable energy, Mabus said. And "We also need to note your devotion to one particular naval officer," he said -- Giffords' husband, retired Navy Capt. and former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly. He sat next to Giffords on the stage in the Pentagon's inner courtyard.

The ship that will carry Giffords' name is part of a long-delayed program that carries much of the hopes for the future of the Navy's surface force. Littoral combat ships were envisioned as cheap, quick to build and highly versatile, given their interchangeable sets of mission equipment, rather than built-in weapons. But the program is years behind schedule and the mission modules on which the ships will depend are not ready to deploy.

Mabus' choices for ship names have drawn the ire of traditionalists and conservatives. Before "Gabrielle Giffords;" he sparked outrage by naming a future amphibious transport for former Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha; and also peeved some by naming a dry cargo and ammunition ship for Latino rights campaigner Caesar Chavez.

But Mabus' predecessor also broke with tradition, bestowing the name of former Virginia Sen. John Warner on an attack submarine -- all of which had previously been named for states. And to placate a group of veterans from the former aircraft carrier USS America, Winter gave that name to an amphibious assault ship -- all of which had been named for Marine Corps battles.

In fact, the modern Navy has departed from conventions for decades: Though all of its ballistic missile submarines were to be named for states, it has one called USS Henry M. Jackson. The namesakes of its Nimitz-class aircraft carriers range from an admiral, to presidents, to senators.

Even the style of the names themselves is not consistent: The lead ship of the class is the "USS Nimitz" -- not "USS Chester W. Nimitz" -- but subsequent names include "USS John C. Stennis" and "USS George H.W. Bush."

No matter where they come from, ship names are important, said former Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, the longtime Democratic chair of the House Armed Services Committee. He told the audience Friday that ships take on the qualities of their namesakes. As for LCS 10, he said he was confident about the warship and its crew:

"I predict USS Gabrielle Giffords will reflect the finest and best of this young lady who's seated in front of us."