List of U.S. military vessels named after women.

Many vessels named after women have seen military service, often serving with distinction. Most of these were named in civilian service and then subsequently commissioned into the United States Navy.

Few ships have been named for women by the military. Ships often are named after people who served in the Navy or who served in the government. Women have only recently been in such prominent positions, and therefore few have been so honored by the Navy.

See also, List of ships of the United States Navy.

Early ships

Gunboat Lady Washington was commissioned in 1776 and the first American armed ship named for a woman. She was a row galley, a small wooden river gunboat, built in 1776 by New York State to defend Hudson River, named in honor of Martha Washington. She remained active, under General Washington's command, through June 1777.

Sidewheel steamer Harriet Lane was launched in 1857. She was the first armed ship named for a woman to serve with Navy. A Revenue Cutter, she was named for Harriet Lane, niece of President James Buchanan, who served as Buchanan's White House hostess. The ship was transferred to the Navy in 1858, later returned to Revenue Cutter Service. She was transferred again to Navy when the American Civil War began, 1861; captured by Confederates at Galveston, Texas Jan 1863. She was not returned to government service after end of war.

Sternwheel river steamer Bloomer launched in 1856. Apparently former name retained, she was named for feminist Amelia Bloomer. Bloomer was captured from Confederates in 1862; served in USN 1863-65.

Harbor tug Sacagawea (YT-241) , 1942. First instance of a Martime Commission 's assignment of woman's name to naval vessel. She was named for Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman. The name was assigned to tug acquired by Maritime Commission for but ended up being retained by Maritime Commission and was not commissioned in the Navy.

Ships named by the United States Navy

Harbor tug Pocahontas (YT-266) , 1942, was named for Pocahontas.

USS Victoria (AO-46) (ex- USS George G. Henry (SP-1560) )

Five transports all commissioned in 1942:

• USS Dix (AP-67), named for Dorothea Dix
• USS Elizabeth C. Stanton (AP-69), named for Elizabeth C. Stanton
• USS Florence Nightingale (AP-70), named for Florence Nightingale
• USS Mary Lyon (AP-71), named for Mary Lyon
• USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72), named for Susan B. Anthony

Harbor tug Sacagawea (YT-326) (later desingation of YTM-326) served in Charleston harbor from 1942 to 1945.

Harbor tug Watseka (YT-387), 1944 was named for a Potawatomi woman.

Gearing-class destroyer USS Higbee (DD-806), 1945. Named for Lenah S. Higbee, Superintendent of Navy Nurse Corps 1911-1922, Higbee served in Fast Carrier Force . She was the first ship laid down, christened, and commissioned for a woman who had served in the US Navy, and the first to see combat so named.

Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG-70), 1996. Built and commissioned at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, the ship is named after Rear Adm. Grace Murray Hopper, a computer technology pioneer who led the Navy into the digital age.

Roosevelt (DDG-80) is explicitly named for both Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt

Supply ship USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE-2) was announced in 2000. She is the second of a new class of replenishment ships .

Note that even though the name Shenandoah is a American Indian word meaning "Daughter of the Stars", the navy airship Shenandoah, as well as other ships of the name are named for the river Shenandoah in Virginia.

Other Navy ships with a woman's name

Many of these ships served in one or both of World War I, World War II, and some also during the intra-war years. The names often came from a previous owner and all were commissioned in the Navy. Some vessels may have been named by the Navy, although it has not been determined which, if any, the Navy specifically named. (incomplete)

• USS Marie (SP-100)
• USS Miss Betsy (SP-151)
• USS Lady Anne (SP-154)
• USS Emeline (SP-175)
• USS Marguerite (SP-193)
• USS Lady Mary (SP-212)
• USS Edithia (SP-214) (later YP-214 Edithia)
• USS Katherine K. (SP-220)
• USS Ellen (SP-284)
• USS Mary Pope (SP-291)
• USS Margaret (SP-328)
• USS Alice (SP-367)
• USS Mary Alice (SP-397)
• USS Guinevere (SP-512)
• USS Nightingale (SP-523)
• USS Margaret (SP-524)
• USS Margaret (SP-527)
• USS Margaret (SP-531)
• USS Estella (SP-537)
• USS Bonita (SP-540)
• USS Empress (SP-569)
• USS Betty M. II (SP-623)
• USS Joy (SP-643)
• USS Lady Betty (SP-661)
• USS Katie (SP-660)
• USS Lady Betty (SP-661)
• USS Mary B. Garner (SP-682)
• USS Annie E. Gallup (SP-694)
• USS Katherine (SP-715)
• USS Sister (SP-822)
• USS Josephine (SP-913)
• USS Lady Thorne (SP-962)
• USS Elizabeth (SP-972)
• USS Isabela (SP-1035)
• USS Elizabeth (SP-1092)
• USS Katrina (SP-1144)
• USS Jane II (SP-1188)
• USS Maggie (SP-1202)
• USS Margaret Anderson (SP-1203)
• USS Annabelle (SP-1206)
• USS Ellen (SP-1209)
• USS Lucielle Ross (SP-1211)
• USS Josephine (SP-1243)
• USS Marie (SP-1260)
• USS Jeanette Skinner (SP-1321)
• USS Eliza Hayward (SP-1414)
• USS Anna B. Smith (ID-1458)
• USS Nellie Jackson (SP-1459)
• USS Miss Toledo (SP-1711)
• USS Anna O'Boyle (ID-1736)
• USS Bessie (SP-1755)
• USS Bessie J. (SP-1919)
• USS Joanna (SP-1963)
• USS Laura Reed (SP-2009)
• USS Bella (ID-2211)
• USS Princess Matioka (SP-2290)
• USS Annie B. Embry (ID-2401)
• USS Julia Luckenbach (SP-2407)
• USS Elinor (SP-2465)
• USS Margaret (SP-2510)
• USS Luella (ID-2691)
• USS Clare (SP-2774)
• USS Katrina Luckenbach (SP-3020)
• USS Sara Thompson (ID-3148) later reclassified AO-8
• USS Katherine W. Cullen (SP-3223)
• USS Mary M (SP-3274)
• USS Betty Jane I (SP-3458)