This report is submitted in accordance with Section 1014 of Public Law 112-81, National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012, dated 31 December 2011, which directs the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on "policies and practices of the Navy for naming vessels of the Navy." As stipulated by the NDAA, the key elements of the report must include: A description of the current policies and practices of the Navy for naming vessels of the Navy. A description of the extent to which the policies and practices described under paragraph (1) vary from historical policies and practices of the Navy for naming vessels of the Navy, and an explanation for such variances (if any). An assessment of the feasibility and advisability of establishing fixed policies for the naming of one or more classes of vessels of the Navy, and a statement of the policies recommended to apply to each class of vessels recommended to be covered by such fixed policies if the establishment of such fixed policies is considered feasible and advisable. Any other matters relating to the policies and practices of the Navy for naming vessels of the Navy that the Secretary of Defense considers appropriate. The report was prepared by the Department of the Navy staff, under the direction of Undersecretary of the Navy Robert O. Work. The historical information and background was developed by Sarandis "Randy" Papadopoulos, Ph.D., Secretariat Historian; Mr. Cecil "Kevin" Hurst, historian and ship name and sponsor specialist at the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC); NHHC historian Robert J. Cressman, ship name and sponsor specialist from 1981-1991; and Captain Henry "Jerry" Hendrix, USN, recently named as the new Director of the NHHC. To keep an already long report from being longer, the only footnotes are those used to clarify or amplify ideas covered in the written sections.