It wasn’t until May 4, 1898, after 79 years of naming ships, that a new act determined all “first-class battleships” would be named for the states.

That, of course, refers to commissioned ships, so once a ship is decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register, its name can be used again.Īdditional provisions were passed over the years to give the Secretary of the Navy power to change the names of ships purchased for use by the Navy, and to designate ship classes based on the number of guns. On March 3, 1819, Congress passed an act that put the power of naming in the hands of the Secretary of the Navy and ordered that no two vessels of the US Navy bear the same name. Why Were Battleships Named for States?įor the answer, we’ll have to jump back in time 200 years, to the Congressional act that made it the duty of the Secretary of the Navy to name newly-commissioned vessels. The biggest and most important ships at Pearl Harbor that morning-and the primary targets of the Japanese attackers-were named for states of the union. Some named for heroic figures of wars long passed, others named for the county’s institutions, like the Constitution and Independence. The history of the US Navy goes back more than 200 years, and in that time, many vessels have come and gone.

For example, you might be thinking about how battleships were named. When learning about the ships that were at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, you may start to wonder about some of their names.

World of warships how to see ship names