Royal Navy Ship names

[steveh11Matrix]

A class of 74 gun Line of Battle ships (3rd Rates) which were built to appallingly bad standards. IIRC one of them was portrayed in a Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin novel - The Ionian Mission?

Steve.

[Tiornu]

Ithuriel, a name taken from angelology and not used in the RN until the 20th Century.
The Wobbly Eight had a hull form that enhanced their maneuverability. They turned handily but, once in a turn, they preferred to stay in it. This quirk in straightening from a turn inspired the nickname. Their roll behavior was probably also more pronounced--they had the most stability of any design of their period, which could not have helped their gunnery at all--but this did not figure in the nickname.
Some Soviet sources will tell you quite emphatically that Novorissijsk was sunk by former members of Decima Mas who couldn't bear the indignity of the Italian ship in Soviet possession.

[HMSWarspite]

ORIGINAL: steveh11Matrix

A class of 74 gun Line of Battle ships (3rd Rates) which were built to appallingly bad standards. IIRC one of them was portrayed in a Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin novel - The Ionian Mission?

Steve.

Correct in essence. The Armada/Conquestadore/Vengeur, and later Collingwood design of 3rd rate 74. These are the largest class of sailing line of battle ships ever built (largest class of any 'battle' ships actually - as distinct from smaller ships). The origin of the derogatory nickname is unclear: whilst some may have been poorly built and hence justify the name, it wasn't used until long after the first were built, and the last one out of commission lasted until the 1870's, albeit converted to steam. I suspect that they might have been a little uninspired rather than as bad as legend. The RN was not afraid to take bad ships out of service.

OTT I know, but here they all are {name(launch date, out of service date, cause)
Armada (1810, 1863 sold)
Cressy(sic) (1810, 1832 broken up)
Vigo (1810, 1827 hulk)
Vengeur (1810, 1824 hulk)
Ajax (1809, 1847 converts to steam, 1864 BU)
Conquestadore (1810,1831 razee, 1856 hulk)
Poictiers (sic) (1809, 1857 BU)
Berwick (1809, 1821 BU)
Egmont (1810, 1863 hulk)
Clarence (1812, 1828 BU)
Edinburgh (1811, 1852 steam, 1866 sold)
America (1810, 1835 razee, 1864 hulk)
Scarborough (1812, 1836 sold)
Asia (1811, 1828 razee, 1858 hulk)
Mulgrave (1812, 1836 hulk)
Anson (1812, 1831 hulk)
Gloucester (1812, 1832 razee, 1861 hulk)
Rodney (1809, 1836 sold)
Hogue (1811, 1848 steam, 1865 BU)
Dublin (1812, 1826 razee, 1846 laid up, 1885 sold)
Barham (1811, 1826 razee, 1840 BU)
Benbow (1813, 1848 hulk)
Stirling Castle (1811, 1839 hulk)
Vindictive (1813, 1833 razee, 1862 hulk)
Blenheim (1813, 1847 steam, 1858 hulk)
Duncan (1811, 1826 hulk)
Rippon (1812, 1821 BU)
Medway (1812, 1847 hulk)
Cornwall (1812, 1830 razee, 1859 hulk)
Pembroke (1812, 1855 steam, 1873 hulk)
Indus (1812, 1842 hulk)
Redoutable (1815, 1841 BU)
Devonshire (1812, 1849 hulk)
Defence (1815, 1848 hulk)
Hercules (1815, 1838 troopship, 1853? hulk)
Agincourt (1817, 1848? hulk)
Pitt (1816, 1853 hulk)
Wellington (1816, 1848 hulk)
Russell (1822, 1855 steam, 1865 BU)
Cornwallis (1813, 1855 steam, 1865 hulk)
Wellesley (1815, 1862 hulk)
Carnatic (1823, 1860 hulk)
[Sailing Navy List, David Lyon, Conway, ISBN 0-85177-615-5]
(43 in all, mostly built in 1809- 1815). I put them all in, because ir relates to the names discussion, and also it suddenly struck me how Britain in 1800 relates to US in 1942. The RN had more 74's built OF ONE CLASS in 3 years than most of the other navies had in total!) One of these days I must do a database of this book and plot a few stats like numbers of ships launched of each type! Other intesesting point - for a class this big, it is really quite interesting that apparently none were lost.

[DBS]

The Juju question is interesting. Some names seem to be immune. Fro example HMS Invincible blew up with Hood on board at Jutland but HMS
Invinicible did fine in the Falklands in 1982.

The RN has never had a problem with continuing names for ships lost honourably in action - exactly same as USN with, say, the Lexington, etc - but will not reuse a name tainted by "unnecessary" surrender or similar dishonourable conduct. The famous example (indeed almost the only one) is that of the submarine HMS Seal which surrendered to a German seaplane after suffering damage that prevented her submerging. And I think it unlikely Bounty has ever been considered seriously since that little incident in the southern oceans...

The best RN name ever is HMS Zubian. During WW1, two Tribal-class destroyers, Zulu and Nubian, suffered near fatal damage from torpedo and mine in the Dover Straits. Rather than scrap both, the intact forward third of Zulu was transplanted onto the intact stern two-thirds of Nubian and returned to service as Zubian.

[DBS]

As regards Rodney and Hood...

I had the privilege once of working with a retired professor who had served as a Midshipman aboard Rodney c1940. Rodney and Hood enjoyed a fine rivalry at Scapa, since one (Rodney) boasted of being the most powerful ship in the fleet (obviously joint with Nelson) in terms of firepower, while Hood claimed to be the most powerful in terms of horsepower and sheer good looks, etc. One of Rodney's stokers had been caught in an unnatural act with a sheep ashore at Scapa, so Hood's company ever-thereafter greeted Rodney with massed bleating. In return, Rodney always used to throw inedible potatoes at Hood, but Mike could sadly not recall why.

[Belisarius]

Another note; at least back in the 18th and 19th century, the RN usually kept the foreign names of captured ships, but ofcourse with the "HMS" added. That way the enemy always knew what ships had been caught, and the Admirality thought it sent an appropriate message to the enemy.

(I guess you could always, like today, distinguish one ship from another by appearance but still...you get the point)