Johnston Blakeley - Namesakes

Namesakes

Three ships were named USS Blakely in Captain Blakeley's honor. The first USS Blakely (TB-27) launched a new class of torpedo boat in 1904 for the United States Navy, which eventually commissioned eight more of the Blakely Class ships. The second USS Blakeley (DD-150) was a Wickes-class destroyer during World War II. The third USS Blakely (FF-1072) Knox-class destroyer escort, later to be reclassified as a frigate. She was named for both Captain Johnston Blakeley and Vice Admiral Charles Adams Blakely. Admiral Blakely claimed to be a nephew of Johnston Blakeley. However, Johnston Blakeley had no siblings who survived to adulthood. Therefore, it is not possible for anyone to be a nephew or grandnephew of Johnston Blakeley.

Blakely Island, part of the San Juan Islands in Washington state, and Port Blakely were named by Charles Wilkes during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838-1842, in honor of Johnston Blakeley. Also part of the San Juan Islands chain, incidentally, are a group of islands to which Wilkes bestowed the name "Wasp Islands" after the Wasp. Their namesake, however, was not the same vessel commanded by Blakely, but an earlier Wasp, also a sloop-of-war, which was commissioned in 1807 and captured by the British in the early months of the War of 1812.

The U.S. city of Blakely, county seat of Early County in southwest Georgia, was also named for Captain Blakeley.