Monaghan and two sailors stood by their wounded officer, fighting until overpowered, killed, and beheaded by the natives

From Down to the Sea by Bruce Henderson.

The last Farragut-class destroyer built, Monaghan was launched on January 9, 1935, in Boston and christened by Mary F. Monaghan, niece of its namesake. Like all destroyers, Monaghan was named for a hero; other ships were named for states (battle ships), cities (cruisers), famous ships (aircraft carriers), and fish (submarines). Ensign John R. Monaghan had served aboard the cruiser Philadelphia during a native uprising in Samoa in 1899. Monaghan had joined a landing party assigned to restore order among the natives, and his small band was returning to the ship when they were ambushed, during which a lieutenant was badly wounded. Despite the lieutenant’s order to leave him and save themselves, Monaghan and two sailors stood by their wounded officer, fighting until overpowered, killed, and beheaded by the natives.

Aircraft Carriers named after famous ships? That's not quite right. Think of all the carriers in the Pacific in World War II such as Lexington, Bunker Hill, Ticonderoga, Belleau Wood, Princeton, Saratoga, Yorktown. I had always assumed that carriers were largely named for famous battles, especially Revolutionary War battles. Enterprise, Essex, Hornet, Wasp all obviously indicate that the conventions were not immutable. So why does Henderson say aircraft carriers are named after famous ships? He is a pretty careful historian.

Wikipedia has the answer. United States ship naming conventions

• Battleships (BB), by law, were named for states, except for USS Kearsarge (BB-5).
• Battlecruisers (CC) under the 1916 program were to receive names of battles or famous ships. When cancelled under the Washington Naval Treaty, two were converted to Aircraft Carriers (CV), and this became the standard for them, with the exception of USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42), USS Wright (CVL-49), USS Forrestal (CVA-59), and USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63); some had names evoking flight (e.g., Wasp, Hornet).
• Large Cruisers (CB) under the 1940 program were named for United States Territories.
• Cruisers, both light and heavy (CL and CA), were named for cities in the United States and Territories, with the exception of USS Canberra (CA-70).
• After the first nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser, USS Long Beach (CGN-9), CGN's of the California and Virginia classes were named for states. (USS Bainbridge and USS Truxtun were commissioned as frigates).
• Destroyers (DD) and Destroyer Escorts (DE) were named for Navy and Marine Corps heroes, with the exception of;
• USS Douglas A. Munro (DE-422), named for Douglas Albert Munro the only member of the Coast Guard to ever receive the Medal of Honor
• Destroyer Leaders (DL) were likewise named after naval heroes; these were reclassified as cruisers or destroyers in 1975.
• Frigates (FF), formerly ocean escorts, were also named for naval heroes.
• Submarines (SS and SSN) were either given a class letter and number, as in S-class submarines, or the names of fish and marine mammals.
• Oilers (AO and AOR) were named for rivers with Native American names, and colliers named for mythical figures.
• Fast Combat Support Ships (AOE) were named after US cities.
• Ammunition ships (AE) were named either after volcanoes (e.g., Mauna Loa) or words relating to fire and explosions (e.g., Nitro and Pyro).
• Combat Stores Ships (AK, AF, and AFS) were named after stars and other heavenly bodies.
• Minesweepers (MS) were named for birds, or after "positive traits," e.g. Admirable and Dextrous.
• Hospital Ships (AH) were given names related to their function, such as Comfort and Mercy.
• Fleet Tugs (AT) and harbor tugs (YT) were named after American Indian tribes.
• The first forty-one nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) (called "boomers") were named after historical statesmen considered "Great Americans."

The next section then goes on to elaborate the more contemporary, and often variant, naming conventions. I like that the naming convention for battle cruisers simply ported over to the class of ship to which they were converted - aircraft carriers. So aircraft carriers are named after famous battles, famous ships, famous presidents, famous people, famous American historical places, and flight. An algorithm of sorts, but not much of one.