Strange Names For Ships

 One of the British ships involved in the Boston Tea Party incident, on December 16, 1773, was named Beaver. Granted, this vessel was a merchant ship and not an armed naval ship.

   Montani semper liberi ! Merry Christmas and happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                                     Crackers

HMS Glowworm always struck me as an odd name.

USS Flounder - I understand naming subs after fish, but just think what the definition implies.

DD393 wrote:

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.

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.'

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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)

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:

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 

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.

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...

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...

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.

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

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

FGS Fuchs...

'nuff said.

USS Cowpens.

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

 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