Strange Names For Ships

onyxman wrote:

A containership, Ever Uranus.

ooo.... good one!

The Brits seem to have the bulk of 'em....like the destroyer, "Tribe"...

And the Japanese...their carriers, like Akagi, Kaga, etc. translate into various things, like: Red Castle, Green Dragon...etc...

 The good ship "Lollipop".

 I know, I shouldn't have.

 How about "Maru"? Isn't that Japanese for 'ship'? And if so, why do some have it in the name and not others?

             60

USS Cowpens.

Yes I know the historical significance of the name, but it still sounds funny.

Back in my active duty Navy days, we did a BALTOPS with some German ships...

FGS Fuchs...

'nuff said.

m60a3 wrote:

The good ship "Lollipop".  I know, I shouldn't have.  How about "Maru"? Isn't that Japanese for 'ship'? And if so, why do some have it in the name and not others?              60

thunder1 wrote:

Cowslip...Buttonwood...Sagebrush....Willow...Bittersweet...Salvia...U S Coast Guard buoy tenders. A class of 39 180 foot vessels all saw service in WWII, many overseas. Last one decommissioned 2 years ago, taxpayers got their money's worth.

subfixer wrote:

m60a3 wrote:  The good ship "Lollipop".  I know, I shouldn't have.  How about "Maru"? Isn't that Japanese for 'ship'? And if so, why do some have it in the name and not others?              60 "Maru" has no definite meaning in Japanese apparently. Check this link for a discussion on this topic:   http://www.mccmedia.com/pipermail/brin-l/Week-of-Mon-20070813/139603.html

 Now I'm really confused...

m60a3 wrote:

subfixer wrote:  m60a3 wrote:  The good ship "Lollipop".  I know, I shouldn't have.  How about "Maru"? Isn't that Japanese for 'ship'? And if so, why do some have it in the name and not others?              60 "Maru" has no definite meaning in Japanese apparently. Check this link for a discussion on this topic:   http://www.mccmedia.com/pipermail/brin-l/Week-of-Mon-20070813/139603.html    Now I'm really confused...

Scratching the surface of Royal Navy names gave me three good ones:

HMS Adam and Eve - Two ships named this, one a hoy, the other a stores ship.

HMS Black Joke  (no joking!) - Two ships, one an armed lugger. the other a captured slaver.

HMS Broke  - Two or three named this, two of them were destroyer flotilla leaders. This beats Hull as far as looking funny on the transom.

I'm going back to look for more, the Brits have had so many ships that the odds are high to find a bunch of good ones.

stikpusher wrote:

USS Cowpens. Yes I know the historical significance of the name, but it still sounds funny.

CVL-25 USS Cowpens, Independence Class Light aircraft carrier, don't forget her nickname: Mighty MOO! (no kidding)

My all time favourites for this category:

HMS Invincible............ it blew up during a gunfight with German battlecrusiers during the battle of the Skagerak, do I have to say more?

HMS Indefatigable........... it suffered the same fate at the same battle as the one above 

But my best one is the name a friend of mine gave his brand new catamaran: Unsinkable II

Keep on modeling

René

www.usns.biz 

After scanning the list of Royal Navy ship names, I discovered some that were best to just omit as they could be construed as being in bad taste (I, however, found them to be very funny). Here are a few more:

HMS Lucifer, HMS Belzebub:

HMS Griper, HMS  Indignant: Malcontents in those crews, I suppose.

HMS Plumper:

HMS Nonsuch:

HMS Fairy, HMS Flamer:

I remember reading a book about the British submarine "Unbroken". The captain apparently once suggested changing the ship's name to "Badly Bent" after it was worked over by enemy depth charges (see link below).

Julian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Unbroken_(P42)

Don't forget the German Derfflinger.

HMS Audacious-only dreadnought or battlcruiser to sink as a result of a mine in 1914-18.

HMS Superb,HMS Bellerophon

Here are two more:

HMS Handmaid, HMS Happy Entrance.

Imagine the poor sailors who had those names on their hats.

The Royal Navy has a plethora of these names, it isn't much of a challenge to find a good one. I'm going to try to pick on another navy.

Rick Martin wrote:

The word "Maru" I think derives from the Japanese word for lucky or happy but is applied to merchant ships while naval vessels went without the "Maru". (this only applies if my memory is working correctly) Rick Martin

I will again resubmit this website for a pretty good explanation:

http://www.mccmedia.com/pipermail/brin-l/Week-of-Mon-20070813/139603.html

I think it somewhat reenforces your recollection and adds a few more.

subfixer wrote:

My first entry is USS Hull. I remember seeing "Hull" on the stern of this ship and remarking "No kidding, how is the rest of the ship labeled?"

Named for Isaac Hull, Commander of USF Constitution when she took HMS Guerriere.

I like HMS Biter.  Maybe HMAS Vampire would be one of her escorts.

The French have a SSBN called Le Triomphant. Given the French Navy's record since October 1805, whom, exactly, are they trying to kid?

Until quite recently, there was a frigate in the Royal Navy called HMS Beaver....

Cheers,

Chris.

Oh no, Billy. They also had the botanical list (HMS Pansy), the entomological dictionary (HMS Cockchaffer) and the complete works of Sigmund Freud (HMS Spanker).

Rick

searat12 wrote:

m60a3 wrote:  subfixer wrote:  m60a3 wrote:  The good ship "Lollipop".  I know, I shouldn't have.  How about "Maru"? Isn't that Japanese for 'ship'? And if so, why do some have it in the name and not others?              60 "Maru" has no definite meaning in Japanese apparently. Check this link for a discussion on this topic:   http://www.mccmedia.com/pipermail/brin-l/Week-of-Mon-20070813/139603.html    Now I'm really confused... 'Maru' indicates a merchant ship (i.e. not Naval).  So when you see a ship named 'Godzilla Maru,' it indicates some sort of commercial ship named 'Godzilla.'