Ship's Names: L

Name

Ship(s)

Source

Lake Champlain

CG-57 - Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser

"USS Lake Champlain honors the battle fought on September 11th 1814, in Lake Champlain's Plattsburg Bay, New York, during the war of 1812. Master Commandant MacDonough commanded the United States Fleet comprised of the 26-gun Corvette Saratoga, three smaller vessels and ten gunboats. A substantially larger British Fleet under the command of Commodore George Downie, whose flagship was the 37-gun Frigate Confiance, opposed him. Using superior tactics, MacDonough denied Downie the advantage of his long-range guns, forcing the British to close on the American vessels. Confiance was severely damaged by Saratoga's broadside and surrendered. Downie's three other large ships then struck their colors and the smaller galleys fled. MacDonough's decisive victory forced the British Army to retreat to Canada forestalling any British claims to Lake Champlain during the negotiations of the Treaty of Ghent that ended the war of 1812." - Mike Mitchell, USS Lake Champlain crewmember 1954-1956, in private email to the webmaster

"A lake in the State of New York which was the scene of Commodore Thomas McDonough's victory 11 September 1814 over a larger and more heavily armed British squadron in the War of 1812."

Langley

CV-1 - Langley-class aircraft carrier

CVL-27 - Independence-class light carrier

"Samuel Pierpont Langley, born August 1834 in Roxbury, Mass., became a distinguished American astronomer, physicist, and pioneer in the development of heavier-than-air craft. In 1865 he was assistant in the Harvard Observatory, and the following year an assistant professor of mathematics at the Naval Academy. In 1887, as director of the Allegheny Observatory, he devised the bolometer and other scientific apparatus. In 1881 he organized a successful expedition to Mount Whitney, Calif. Professor Langley was honored by degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Yale, among other universities. He died 27 February 1906 in Aiken, S.C."

CV-1 was the first U. S. Navy ship to bear the name; CVL-27 was named to honor CV-1

Lexington

14-gun brigantine

24-gun sloop

Sidewheel steamer/gunboat

SP-705 (as Lexington II) - Naval Coast Defense motorboat

CV-2 - Lexington-class aircraft carrier

CV-16 - Essex-class fleet carrier

"Minutemen fought a detachment of British troops at Lexington, Mass., 19 April 1776 opening the Revolutionary War with 'the shot heard round the world.'"

CV-16 was named in honor of CV-2.

Leyte

Gunboat

ARG-8 - Luzon-class internal combustion engine repair ship

CV-32 - Essex-class aircraft carrier

"Leyte, an island in the southeastern Philippine Islands, was the site of the Battle for Leyte Gulf 23 to 26 October 1944. The series of major air and surface engagements fought there culminated in four almost simultaneous naval actions; the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle off Samar, the Battle of Cape Engano, and the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. Combined, they defeated the Japanese challenge to drive American forces from the Philippines. The first Leyte retained her Spanish name; the second was named for the island; and the third was named after the battle." (CV-32 is the "third" Leyte)

Lingayan

CVE-126 - Commencement Bay-class escort carrier

"American troops landed 9 January 1945 at Lingayen Gulf on the west coast of Luzon, Philippine Islands, and drove on to liberate Manila and the rest of the island."

Liscombe Bay

CVE-56 - Casablanca-class escort carrier

"A bay off the eastern coast of Dall Island in southeast Alaska."

Long Island

SP-572 - Steam patrol vessel

CVE-1 - Long Island-class escort carrier

"The first Long Island retained her former name; the second was named for the body of water between the southern shore of Connecticut and the northern coast of Long Island, N.Y." (CVE-1 is the "second" Long Island)

Lunga Point

CVE-94 - Casablanca-class escort carrier

"Lunga Point, a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal; the site of a World War II battle."

Dedication

Ship's Names: L

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Ship(s)

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