There have been many items and locations that have been named after Theodore Roosevelt, the US president that is considered as one of the memorable personality in the history of the country. Some of these namesake areas and things have become quite popular over the year, and the most popular is arguably the “Teddy Bear,” which was named after him after an infamous incident during a hunting trip.
However, there are also a few things that are named after the former president that were obscure, and these include the ships that were used by the US Navy and other factions of the United States. So, to know more about those ships, we are here to provide you with details on the origins and the purpose of each ship named after Roosevelt. Here are the different USS Theodore Roosevelt ships.
SS Roosevelt Steamship (SP-2397)
The first ship that was named after Theodore Roosevelt was the SS Roosevelt, a steamship that was laid down on October 19, 1904 and was first owned by the Peary Arctic Club. The SS Roosevelt was first used for the polar expedition that was led by Robert Peary, who claims that the ship was used to discover the North Pole in 1908.
After the ship was sold by Peary on August 1910 to a man named John Arbuckle, the SS Roosevelt became a tugboat that helps other boats maneuver properly in difficult areas. Arbuckle then sold the SS Roosevelt to the US Bureau of Fisheries in 1915, where it remained as an operating tugboat for both government and commercial use until 1937, when it was abandoned at Mount Hope Shipyard after it suffered irreparable damages.
USS Theodore Roosevelt Troop Transport (ID-1478)
The first USS Theodore Roosevelt was a troop transport by the United States Navy that was laid down and launched in 1906 and was built by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company. Before it became a troop transport ship, the USS Theodore Roosevelt was first a passenger steamship that operated on Lake Michigan. Because of the order that forced Toledo to give the ship to the US Navy on April 6, 1918, the USS Theodore Roosevelt was then used as troop transport during World War I.
In World War I, the USS Theodore Roosevelt was used to transport troops across the English Channel, which is found in the middle of the United Kingdom and France. The USS Theodore Roosevelt was then decommissioned in 1919 and returned to being a passenger ship, but this time, it operated on the Great Lakes in the US. The USS Theodore Roosevelt with identification number ID-1478 was eventually scrapped for parts in 1950 by the Cream City Lumber and Wrecking Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
USS Theodore Roosevelt Submarine (SSBN-600)
The USS Theodore Roosevelt with identification number SSBN-600 was a George Washington-class (named after the USS George Washington SSBN-598) submarine that was laid down in 1958 and was built by Mare Island Naval Shipyard. This submarine did not have a name when it was being built, and it was only known for its identification number. In addition, this vessel was a built as a guided missile submarine that used parts or components that was supposed to be used for another submarine called the USS Scamp (SSN-588). However, after it was named as “USS Theodore Roosevelt” it was reassigned to be a fleet ballistic missile submarine instead. Interestingly, the submarine was sponsored by Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Theodore Roosevelt’s eldest child.
Inside the submarine there are two sets of crews that are working on the controls and maintenance of the ship, and these sets are called Blue and Gold. It was commissioned for the US Navy on February 1961, with Commander Oliver H. Perry Jr. commanding the Gold Crew, while the Blue Crew was commanded by Commander William E. Sims. After about twenty years, the USS Theodore Roosevelt submarine was decommissioned on December 1, 1982. The remaining parts of the Theodore Roosevelt was then recycled a few years after, with the recycling process ending on March 24, 1995
USS Theodore Roosevelt Aircraft Carrier (CVN-71)
The third USS Theodore Roosevelt and the fourth ship named after the US president is the only surviving ship on this list, as it was just built in 1981 and was only launched in 1984 by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co. The USS Theodore Roosevelt with identification number CVN-71 is an aircraft carrier that has a radio call sign “Rough Rider,” which is derived from the nickname of Roosevelt’s volunteer cavalry unit that operated during the Spanish-American War. Although the ship was launched in 1984, its first mission was only conducted in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm, where the United States battled Iraq for the freedom of Kuwait.
Besides being in Operation Desert Storm, the USS Theodore Roosevelt was also infamous for being the first US Navy ship to have a COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. It was reported that the crew members of the ship got COVID-19 when they stayed in a hotel in Vietname on March 2020, and that hotel had two guests that tested positive for the virus. After the crew member returned to the ship, they departed on March 9 while believing that they are negative of the virus. Unfortunately, some of the crew members tested positive from March 22 to 24, which led to an outbreak inside the ship. During the said outbreak, hundreds of crew members were suffering from the symptoms of COVID-19, including the captain of the ship, Brett Crozier. One crew member died from the incident. Fortunately, almost all crew members recovered from the symptoms of COVID-19 around April, and the ship returned to the see on May 21, 2020.