The choice to rename the ship struck some in the Navy community as a curious move since the cruiser is set to be decommissioned in 2026.īryan McGrath, a retired naval officer and now managing director of The FerryBridge Group, noted in a tweet Tuesday that he 'would have preferred leaving the ship with its current name for the short life it has remaining, while naming the next name-able FLIGHT III Destroyer after Robert Smalls so that his name might be in the fleet for decades.' USNI News reported in 2022 that the painting had since been removed. Navy journalist Chris Cavas reported that the ship's wardroom featured a large painting of Lee and Jackson until at least 2016. Lee's spectacular military strategies and his dominance in this battle.' The crest also features the motto 'Press on' - a rallying cry Jackson used while routing Union troops in the battle. Before it was removed from the cruiser's webpage, a description noted that 'the predominant gray refers to General Robert E. The ship's crest glorifies the Confederacy, as well. While all the Navy's Ticonderoga-class cruisers are named after major battles, including others from the Civil War, the Chancellorsville is the only ship named after a Confederate victory. 'Robert Smalls is a man who deserves a namesake ship and, with this renaming, his story will continue to be retold and highlighted,' he added.

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