U.S Navy welcomes it's newest attack submarine
 

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam...m-plus-169.jpg

Ceremonies were held for the commissioning of the newest attack submarine, the USS John Warner on Saturday , August 1st having completed it's initial shakedown. It's the 12th sub of the Virginia class featuring the absence of a periscope among other innovations.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/politi...ner/index.html

Virginia class is pretty good, shame we couldn't any longer spam subs the same way USN does :(

Don't worry, China holds the lien on everything we have. :hmmm:

As does everyone :P

To be honest, by 2025 (in best case scenario) our Navy would have a barely adequate submarine force in my opinion, as we would have only 1+7+7 modern SSNs/SSGNs vs the USN/RN/MN numbers.

Sure there would be SSKs/SSPs (Lada class to name one), upgraded 3rd gen subs (Akulas-Sierras-Oscars-Kilos), but I think we really should get down to making more SSNs.

Pardon my ignorance, but I did not know the Navy named ships after people still living. Is this a recent change in policy?

There is the last of the Seawolf class named after former president Jimmy carter ( SSN -23 ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jimmy_Carter_(SSN-23)

There is the 10th and final Nimitz class aircraft carrier named after former president George Herbert Walker Bush

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_George_H.W._Bush

So naming a ship after a living person who has made contributions is not unprecedented. Jimmy Carter himself was a Naval Officer under Hyman Rickover at the beginning of the program to initiate nuclear propulsion in Submarines. George H.W Bush was a fighter pilot and officer in the U.S Navy in WW2 and both of course were U.S presidents.


John Warner served as secretary of the Navy from 1972-1974 After giving substantial campaign funds and time to the Nixon Presidential election, on February 1969, Warner was appointed Undersecretary of the Navy under the Nixon administration. On May 4, 1972, he succeeded John H. Chafee as Secretary of the Navy. Thereafter Warner, was appointed by President Gerald Ford to be a participant in the Law of the Sea talks, and negotiated the Incidents at Sea Executive Agreement with the Soviet Union which became a cause celebre of pro-Detente doves in Soviet-American relations. He was subsequently appointed by Gerald Ford to the post of Director of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration

In naming the newest submarine, The U.S Government and Military, specifically the navy Recognized John Warner's contributions and accomplishments. As you said platapus , ships are normally named after deceased persons for the same reason or after something Innocuous , like stingray , grey fish or something like that