Namesake

She is named for seapower naval theorist Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan USN (1840-1914) and is the fourth Navy ship to bear the name. Mahan served with the Union's blockading squadrons during the American Civil War, and served as President of the Naval War College for two terms. Furthermore, he was a renowned U.S. Naval theoretician and is best known as the author of the book "The Influence of Sea Power upon History," which, with his other scholarly works, continues to influence strategic and geopolitical thinking throughout the world.