USS Thomas S. Gates [SEP] vessel class
USS Thomas S. Gates
USS "Thomas S. Gates" (CG-51) was a flight-I that was used by the United States Navy. The warship was named after Thomas S. Gates, Secretary of Defense in the last years of the Eisenhower Administration (1959–1961). 
In a break from normal naming conventions for the "Ticonderoga" class cruisers, "Thomas S. Gates" is the only vessel of the class to be named after a person; all of the other cruisers are named after notable events in American military
1983 and received an honorary degree of an LL.D. from Penn, his alma mater, in 1956. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the College of the Atlantic during the periods 1972–1976 and 1978–1983. The community center at College of the Atlantic is named in his honor.
Gates died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 25, 1983.
Namesake.
The "Ticonderoga"-class guided missile cruiser USS "Thomas S. Gates" (CG-51) is named after the late Secretary of Defense. It is