The
Las Cruces Sun-News has an interesting article about the naming of the Crew's Mess on PCU New Mexico (SSN 779), which will be floated for the first time next week. Excerpts:
Master Chief [redacted], chief of boat for the USS New Mexico, said crew members had developed a list of three potential names, including the two restaurants and a name they'd generated themselves, Santa Fe Trail Cafe. They settled on La Posta after a vote.
"When asked why they voted for La Posta, the thought was that La Posta was smaller, and its atmosphere was more in line with a submarine crew's ... galley when compared to its competitor that was on a much larger scale," he wrote in an e-mail. "Both restaurants have been wonderful and very supportive to crew and the command intends to keep strong ties to both businesses."
I've always enjoyed seeing the names of the various boats' Crew's Messes; as I've said before, I think the personalization of the Crew's Mess is an important part of developing and maintaining crew
esprit de corps. The crew of the
New Mexico seems to be taking the naming of spaces to a whole new level, however:
"Having a name for your living area helps promote personal pride and improves sailor sense of ownership," he wrote. "Usually these areas would include the crew's mess, the wardroom and crew living spaces."
In addition to the mess, five other areas of the vessel will be named after Medal of Honor recipients from New Mexico, [redacted] said. The rooms will be marked with brass plaques.
Have you seen any other boats do something like that? Did you have a "Charles Jones Sonar Shack" or a "Jim Johnson WRSR #3"?
