Navy names ship for ex-Rep. Giffords

WASHINGTON — The Navy has named a ship for Gabrielle Giffords, the recently retired congresswoman from Arizona who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head received in January 2011.

In a ceremony at the Pentagon, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus unveiled an artist's rendering of the USS Gabrielle Giffords.

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Said Mabus: "The name this ship bears and the story represented by that name will inspire all those who come in contact with her. The Navy motto is semper fortis, always courageous. Unwavering courage has defined the Navy for 236 years and it is what we expect and what we demand from our sailors every single day. So it's very appropriate that LCS 10 be named for someone who has become synonymous with courage, who has inspired the nation with remarkable resiliency, and showed the possibilities of the human spirit. Unwavering courage ... The USS Gabrielle Giffords."

Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords attends a ceremony at the Pentagon, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012, for the unveiling of the USS Gabrielle Giffords.

(Credit: AP Photo Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The littoral combat ship is among the Navy's most versatile and can operate in shallower coastal waters than larger ships.

Mabus said: "God bless the USS Gabrielle Giffords and all who sail in her."

Mabus also announced that the ship's "sponsor" is Roxanna Green. She's the mother of Christina-Taylor Green. The 9-year-old who was among six people killed in the shooting. Thirteen, including Giffords, were wounded. The sponsor's initials will be welded into the keel of the ship.

Giffords, who donned a Navy cap for the event, was accompanied by her husband Mark Kelly.

Former Arixona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, attend a ceremony at the Pentagon, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012, for the unveiling of the USS Gabrielle Giffords. The Navy has named a ship for Gabrielle Giffords, the recently retired congresswoman from Arizona who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head received in January 2011.

(Credit: AP Photo Manuel Balce Ceneta)

[Rebel_6]

What is in a name? In the past the Navy's system of naming ships was based on rules established by law, custom, and tradition, whcih assigned to each type of vessel a particular class or classes of names. For example, in the past battleships were named for states, while cruisers, gunboats, and frigates were named for cities and towns. Deviations were relatively few, and generally resulted from reasons of state, merchantmen retaining their names, or other vessels transferred from one class to another. The process has evolved over time.

The Navy historically has rarely named a ship for a living person. At least 12 ships have now been named for a living person since the 1970s.

Two classes of littoral combat ships exist: the Freedom and Independence. Both classes prior to today were being named for small and medium sized cities. Fort Worth, Coronado, Milwaukee, Jackson, Detroit, Montgomery, and Little Rock.

A potential name could have been the Phoenix, since a Los Angeles-class submarine is named after Tucson.

[raymailhot]

Beautiful ship, her name goes well with it!

[Tater-salad]

Why?

[longtree-2009]

medal of honor winners past and present should have military ships named after them. until that list is exhausted, no one else should have a ship named after them. is there a ship named after audie murphy, the most decorated soldier of ww2?

[kerrco]

I am so sick of hearing about this woman. If she was a Republican, the media would have forgotten about her a long time ago.

[raymailhot]

Look at it this way, she was shot by a democrat and she is now a right wing martyr. As a conservative, I like her and she has been very gracious in her appearances without using her disability to direct any liberal agenda.

[dknelson353]

When are we going to honor some of the Medal of Honor recipients? Or how about some of the other heroes that this administration seems to ignore?

[samXXkiley]

coucou,
you deserve this honor, congratulations Gabrielle,
"au revoir"

[paramedic05]

she has served as a member of our congress her Naval service is nonexistent she was not a corpsman nor any member of the services. She has not been awarded any medal for service. Plenty of people in depressed areas get shot for affect by anarchists, sorry she does not deserve this before others more deserving. see Lt John Finn

[involved_indi]

why?

[guest173]

that's very fitting, it's nice that her husband is also retired Navy as well. It was funny that the sign was upside down at first but that happens.

[obwan222]

[I think the nation would of been better off naming a hospital after her...]

Unfortunately we aren't building any hospital ships in the near future.

[I thought it was some law that you could only name a government building or ship or a face on a coin etc only after a person had died?]

The first living person to have a ship named after them was the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson (CVN 70), the carrier that Osama bin Laden's body was dropped from.

Vinson was a Democratic Congressman from Georgia for more than 50 years and a staunch advocate of a strong US Navy from the beginning.

The naming convention for US Ships has been loosened over the years and ships have been named for several people during their lifetime including: Hyman G. Rickover ("father" of the nuclear Navy), Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and entertainer Bob Hope.

[So, if you are a politician and happen to get shot by someone, you get rewarded by having a military vessel named after you...]

Ms. Giffords is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, what's your excuse?

[paramedic05]

why she is neither a nurse or corpsman and certainly not a physician

[paramedic05]

My excuse is education, a recent deduction from the current system of provisions to our youth. Is that persons such as you have never been part of the military service or the civil service or fire service. Being threatened, shot at, under fire, or other threat of death is far more important or determinable than "simply shot"