Greatest Warship Name Ever

General naval discussions that don't fit within any specific time period or cover several issues.
tnemelckram
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by tnemelckram »

HMS Victory
I think this suffers from the same problem as Invincible. It still requires a comparison to the other ships it hopes to be victorious over. The name doesn't suggest that it is already there, only its aspiration.
HMS Devastation
I booted around the idea of whether the name suggests that devastation is what it is going to deliver to someone else or what it is itself. But I decided that is weak because the former is the only logical reason to name it that.
When you put that aside, it's right to the point. So it goes to the finals.
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chcrawfish
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by chcrawfish »

My choice is much simpler, but when you think about it...it is all attitude. USS TEXAS. Like the state motto used to say, "Don't Mess With TEXAS!"
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Legend
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by Legend »

Texas? We're going to pick our favorite ship name Texas? I was going to leave tnemelckram to lead theis thread, but I can't let him take the flak for a thing like this! Texas... Whooh! I can maybe understand New York, the largest and most powerful city and state in the United States, possibly even Washington, also after the city and state... but Texas? Enough of my bickering...

I'm assuming Bismarck is up for running! Because of her aura of power the name is now immortalized. It striked fear into the heart of us and our fellow Allies. Named after the Iron Chancellor himself, Bismarck should be in the running... Imagine you're in command of KGV and all the other ships had to go home because of fuel. Suddenly behind you the lookout shouts "Ship to our stern! Sir, it's the Bismarck!" Whooh, to see her coming out of the fog of the north Atlantic right at you just sends chills of fear and exitement down my back!
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tnemelckram
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by tnemelckram »

USS
Texas
Nah - doesn't qualify for three reasons:

1. The rest of the world is not likely to understand the secondary meaning the nominator ascribes to it.

2. The reasons stated by Legend.

3. I don't think very many US names can qualify. They are mostly named after place names (cities, states and battles) or heroes (DDs). As such they are not descriptive of the ship and don't carry any any other secondary meaning. There are a few like Hornet named after historic US ships that do have those qualities. The original namesake was bestowed in the same abstract spirit as the more colorful English names.
Bismarck


I don' t think it qualifies.

1. Named after a person just like US DDs. Not descriptive, no secondary meaning.

2. I never liked the name anyway because it unfairly associated the Iron Chancellor with Nazi Germany and the incorrect impression has never been fully corrected. Today if you asked people half of them would say that Bismarck had something to do with the Nazis. In fact he became famous for what he did 60 or more years before the Nazis and moreofver was the embodiment of Realpolitic - something that the Nazis clearly cast aside.

3. Although I appreciate his support, Legend already has Hornet in the finals.
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RF
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by RF »

Whetrher you like or dislike a name because its current context is different or opposed to a previous context is merely subjective. The point is what the name is perceived to achieve. Is KGV any more or less appropriate a name than Bismarck for a battleship? The name is prestigous, it is what it symbolises, which is why Hitler changed the name of Deutschland to Lutzow....
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JtD
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by JtD »

Invincible.

I like the modesty. :D
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RF
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by RF »

It blew up.
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Legend
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by Legend »

:clap: :clap: :clap: That's modest, he he he.
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RF
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by RF »

What I mean is that the ship spectaculary failed to live up to its name. No doubt it would be the same reason the the suggested name of ''Der Fuehrer'' for one of the H Classe battleships would not have been enacted if these ships had been built, as it would be unlikely that Hitler would permit a ship embodying himself any risk of being sunk.....

Of course if such a ship had won a WW2 version of Jutland then it could claim the title here.
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by Pr_Eugen »

As a joke - Noah Ark

And so - Bismarck and Missuri
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RF
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by RF »

chcrawfish wrote:My choice is much simpler, but when you think about it...it is all attitude. USS TEXAS. Like the state motto used to say, "Don't Mess With TEXAS!"
Perhaps USS Alamo might be more to the point..... in fact has the US Navy had a ship bearing that name?
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by lwd »

RF wrote:
chcrawfish wrote:My choice is much simpler, but when you think about it...it is all attitude. USS TEXAS. Like the state motto used to say, "Don't Mess With TEXAS!"
Perhaps USS Alamo might be more to the point..... in fact has the US Navy had a ship bearing that name?
http://www.ussalamo.com/
I still like Vesuvias
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Legend
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by Legend »

He he he, the ammo ships, that's a good one, I like that one. One shot and ... GO BOOM! :lol:
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by lwd »

Legend wrote:He he he, the ammo ships, that's a good one, I like that one. One shot and ... GO BOOM! :lol:
I was thinking of this one:
http://www.spanamwar.com/vesuvius.htm
but the other one:
http://www.freewebs.com/vesuvius/
works well too.
Apparently there were a couple of earlier ones as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Vesuvius
bomb Ketchs. Still works pretty well.
downes51
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Re: Greatest Warship Name Ever

Post by downes51 »

I like HMS Agincourt.

Also the Invincible class battlecruisers had a great series of names, including Inflexible, Indomitable and Indefatigable.
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