DDG 1002 Lyndon B Johnson.

[Shep_Guest]

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced April 16 the next Zumwalt-class destroyer will be named the USS Lyndon B. Johnson.

The selection of Lyndon B. Johnson, designated DDG 1002, continues the Navy tradition of naming ships after presidents and honors the nation's 36th president.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson is the 34th ship named by the Navy after a U.S. president.

"I am pleased to honor President Johnson with the naming of this ship," Mabus said. "His dedication to a life of public service included bravely stepping forward to fight for his country during our entry into World War II."

A Texas congressman, Johnson was the first member of Congress to enlist in the military following the start of World War II. After his naval service, Johnson was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1948, where he served as both minority and majority leader before being elected vice president Nov. 8, 1960.

Following President John F. Kennedy's assassination Nov. 22 1963, Johnson succeeded to the presidency, finished the remaining term, and was reelected for a full term as president, by the greatest percentage of total popular vote (61 percent) ever attained by a presidential candidate.

Johnson's time as president was marked by the passage of programs that greatly influenced and impacted education, healthcare and civil rights for generations to come. He signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, enacting comprehensive provisions protecting the right to vote and guarding against racial discrimination. His work on civil rights continued with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed voting rights for all people, regardless of race.

Johnson signed legislation establishing Medicare, which allowed millions of elderly Americans access to cheaper medical services. He also launched the Head Start Program, which provided preschool children from low-income families with classes, medical care, and other services.

As a naval officer, Johnson requested a combat assignment after the attack on Pearl Harbor and served in the Pacific theater during World War II. After returning from active duty service, Johnson reported back to Navy leaders and Congress on what he believed were deplorable conditions for the warfighters, and continued to fight for better standards for all military members.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson will be the third Zumwalt-class (DDG 1000) destroyer. Construction began on the ship at General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works April 4 and is expected to deliver to the Navy in fiscal 2018. The multimission DDG 1000 class destroyers are designed for sustained operations in the littorals and land attack and will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces, and operate as an integral part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. This warship integrates numerous critical technologies, systems, and principles into a complete warfighting system. Zumwalt ships will be 600 feet in length, have a beam of 80.7 feet, displace approximately 15,000 tons, and capable of making 30 knots speed. Each ship will have a crew size of 148 officers and Sailors.

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This means that USS RICHARD M. NIXON is not far behind, if LBJ can get a ship, and Nixon was far more important geostrategically with opening up RED CHINA.

[Sea Skimmer]

Well,it sure would be fitting to name a pair of DDG-1000 after that pair, too bad we can't do it since we only have three of the ships. Given the gun focus of the hulls, and the fact that the USN fired more shells in Vietnam then in any other conflict since the Second World War its only fitting. Good to see Mabus is keeping up being retarded by citing the LBJ's navy record, and not you know his massive directly role in ordering several million people to die in his clusterfuck stupid war. Remember men, fight as dumb as possible and maybe the enemy who's already been fighting since before many of you were born will get bored and give up!

[Lonestar]

What the fuck shep

way to boner me

[Patroklos]

At least it doesn't break a naming convention, which for some reason the civilians in the DON can't help themselves from raping over and over again.

I think there are better "naval heros" (what destroyers are historically named for) to name a DDG after, but whatever.

[Sidewinder]

BENEDICT ARNOLD, the most infamous traitor in US history, remains a better namesake than the moron who cost us the Vietnam War- at least the former fought with valor in the Battle of Saratoga, for the Americans. Johnson's stupidity, on the other hand, killed more people than Arnold's treason ever did.

[Thanas]

BENEDICT ARNOLD, the most infamous traitor in US history, remains a better namesake than the moron who cost us the Vietnam War- at least Arnold fought with valor in the Battle of Saratoga, for the Americans.

I think they might also care about such things like "civil rights".

[Sidewinder]

BENEDICT ARNOLD, the most infamous traitor in US history, remains a better namesake than the moron who cost us the Vietnam War- at least Arnold fought with valor in the Battle of Saratoga, for the Americans.

I think they might also care about such things like "civil rights".

Then name the ship "USS Martin Luther King, Jr."

[Thanas]

Is that supposed to be a serious rebuttal?

[Sidewinder]

Is that supposed to be a serious rebuttal?

King has done far more for civil rights than Johnson, so if the Navy wants to honor those who advanced the civil rights movement, they might as well honor him. Also, warships are usually named for war heroes; as Johnson's fumbling with Vietnam shows, he caused far more harm to the American war effort, than good.

[Thanas]

Is that supposed to be a serious rebuttal?

King has done far more for civil rights than Johnson, so if the Navy wants to honor those who advanced the civil rights movement, they might as well honor him. Also, warships are usually named for war heroes; as Johnson's fumbling with Vietnam shows, he caused far more harm to the American war effort, than good.

Johnson however was also a career politician, which King was not. Also, naming a warship after a minister might not be the best idea considering the whole thou shalt not kill thing.

[TimothyC]

As much as I may not like the idea of naming ships after politicians, President Johnson did serve as a naval officer, and it's a destroyer, not an aircraft carrier so I'm not going to complain to loudly.

[Gandalf]

Why were Johnson and Nixon skipped in the naming scheme?

Also, I look forward to the USS George W Bush.

[TC Pilot]

Setting aside the irony of naming a destroyer after Johnson...

I'm somewhat surprised by the reaction it's getting here. Yeah, he's chiefly responsible for the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam (why no rage over Kennedy's involvement?), but he was a President, so of course he's going to have a ship named after him.

As for civil rights, there's no way in hell the Civil Rights Act would have gotten through the Senate without Johnson at the helm.

[Sea Skimmer]

I'm no fan of Kennedy either, but other then ceding Laos to the communists unnecessarily, he got shot before he could make US involvement take on the completely retarded form it did under Johnson. Johnson really could not have handled the war worse; I mean most moves that would be worse in military terms would have at least reduced losses... god its so bad. Makes the war in Iraq looks well considered.

As for being a president = ship, true and not true, I do believe we have a great many presidents who have not had ships named after them, or at least not one that existed in the 20th and 21st century and political names were uncommon in the 18th century. Now if you were president after WW1, yeah a ship is pretty damn likely. Nixon though could easily be the exception given his resignation in disgrace. A W Bush is going to have to wait for a Sec Navy from a republican president as dumb and openly biased as Mabus. Even then I think it will be a while.

[CarsonPalmer]

As much as I may not like the idea of naming ships after politicians, President Johnson did serve as a naval officer, and it's a destroyer, not an aircraft carrier so I'm not going to complain to loudly.

Johnson's naval service was a mixed bag. He mostly inspected shipyards and went on one Pacific inspection tour, so it wasn't like he was actually on a PT-Boat like Kennedy. On the other hand, he actually did go up in a combat mission (receiving a totally undeserved medal for it), so he did more than Nixon did.

However, he unquestionably was the key figure in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress, and he did leave office with a poverty rate just about half of what he entered with.

[Julhelm]

I wonder if they're then going to deply the USS Lyndon B. Johnson DDG-1002 to the Tonkin Gulf?

[Uraniun235]

Is that supposed to be a serious rebuttal?

King has done far more for civil rights than Johnson, so if the Navy wants to honor those who advanced the civil rights movement, they might as well honor him. Also, warships are usually named for war heroes; as Johnson's fumbling with Vietnam shows, he caused far more harm to the American war effort, than good.

There is no way King would have been happy with having a warship named after him.

[K. A. Pital]

The US should start naming their warships like the Culture.

DDG 1002 "A Warmongering Tendency".

Solves you the bad rep problem with this or that historical figure.

[Lonestar]

There is no way King would have been happy with having a warship named after him.

Well, neither would have Cesar Chavez but that didn't stop us.

[Flagg]

Aren't we naming an Aircraft Carrier after Gerald Ford?

[folti78]

Aren't we naming an Aircraft Carrier after Gerald Ford?

Not just that, but the entire class are named after him

[Flagg]

Aren't we naming an Aircraft Carrier after Gerald Ford?

Not just that, but the entire class are named after him

Wow. I know he served in the Navy but the guy that pardoned Nixon and lost to Jimmy Carter should not get a class of nuclear warships named after him.

[Simon_Jester]

Aren't we naming an Aircraft Carrier after Gerald Ford?

Not just that, but the entire class are named after him

Wow. I know he served in the Navy but the guy that pardoned Nixon and lost to Jimmy Carter should not get a class of nuclear warships named after him.

They're only naming the class that because they're naming the first ship that, on account of them running out of recent presidents. But yeah, they really ought to pick a traditional carrier name.

I actually wonder; aren't we supposed to be getting one of the new build carriers more than every four to six years? How will the Navy keep picking unimpressive presidents to name ships after when that happens? Won't they run out?

[Flagg]

They will just pick other Republican presidents to name them after most likely.

[Simon_Jester]

I'd be really surprised if they name a carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower or something in 2020. Although CVN-79, the one after Ford, is due to be named... John F. Kennedy. This would complete the cycle, since he was the first president they named a carrier for, too.