Ship Name Histories - Database of histories of ship names beginning with letter A.

Name Origin: “Slave of the merciful one”.  Name of the present Sultan; born 1842, succeeded to the throne 1876.

Name Origin: “Slave of the praised one”.  Name of the father of the present Sultan.

Name Origin: John C. Hamilton-Gordon, seventh Earl of Aberdeen, born 1847.  After having been Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for six months in 1886, he was Governor General of Canada from 1893 to 1898, and is again Lord Lieutenant of Ireland since 1905.

The third “Aboukir” was a 90-gun ship launched at Plymouth in 1848.  She was of 3083 tons, and carried a crew of 830 men.  Her length, beam, and draught were 204ft., 60ft., and 19ft.  This vessel was fitted with a screw and engines of 400-horse power.  From 1863 to 1877 she acted a receiving ship at Jamaica, and in 1877 she was sold.

Absalon

Name Origin: Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, Primate of the Scandinavian Islands; born 1128, died 1201.  He was a relative of King Waldemar I of Denmark, and served him loyally in peace and war.  He led an expedition by sea against the island of Rugen, whose heathen inhabitants he conquered and Christianise, built a strong castle on the site of the present city of Copenhagen, and extended the Danish conquests in Mecklenburg and Esthonia.  He materially assisted the King in framing a code of laws, and invited Saxo Gramaticus to write the history of Denmark.

Name Origin: The old name for the peninsula on the east coast of North America, south of the St. Lawrence River.  Comprising Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Lower Canada, and the State of Maine.  First colonised by France in 1604, it remained a French province until 1713, when it fell to England.

Name Origin: Admiral Don Francisco de Acevedo.  He was in command of the naval forces at the reconquest of San Salvador (Bahia) in Brazil, and distinguished himself subsequently at the siege of Rochelle.  He died 1630.

Acheloos

Acheron

The fifth “Acheron” was a 28 gun screw vessel, launched at Millwall in 1865 as the “Northumberland.”  She was of 10,780 tons, 4000 horsepower, and 14 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 400 ft., 59ft., and 28ft.   For many years this vessel acted as a stokers training ship at Chatham, and she was subsequently converted into a floating coal depot.

Acheron

Name Origin: (New South Wales) In Greek mythology the name of one of the rivers of Hades (the nether regions) round which the shades of the dead were said to hover, and across which the mythical boatman Charon ferried them.

Acheron

Name Origin: In Greek mythology the name of one of the rivers of Hades (the nether regions) round which the shades of the dead were said to hover, and across which the mythical boatman Charon ferried them.

           The seventh “Achilles” was a 50-gun screw ship, launched at Chatham in 1861.  She was of 9820 tons, 5720 horsepower, and 14 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 380ft., 58ft., and 27ft.   In 1879 the “Achilles” commanded by Captain Sir William Hewett, was one of a squadron of six ships under Vice-Admiral Hornby, with his flag in “Alexandra,” which cleared for action and proceeded through the Dardanelles to Constantinople to protect British interests during the conflict between Russia and Turkey.  The Turks did not obstruct the passage of the ships, and no fighting took place.  The “Achilles,” if fighting had occurred, was to have silenced Namasghia.  Admiral Geoffrey Hornby was deservedly rewarded with a K.C.B. for his tactful management of the situation.   In 1882 the “Achilles” commanded by Captain Edward Kelly, arrived to late to take part in the bombardment of Alexandria, but she assisted in the occupation of the town, and Captain Edward Kelly became the head of the transport service.  The “Achilles” eventually went to Malta to act as depot ship, and her name was changed to “Hibernia.”  This vessel’s name was again changed, this time to “Egmont” in 1904, when a first class battleship was laid down as the “Hibernia.”

Acre

Name Origin: Name of a territory ceded by Bolivia to Brazil, by treaty dated November 21^st 1903.

The seventh “Actaeon” is a 26-gun screw frigate, launched as the “Ariadne” at Deptford in 1859.  She is of 4538 tons, 3350 horsepower, and carried a crew of 250 men.  Her length, beam, and draught were 280ft., 51ft., and 16ft.  In 1905 this vessel became the Torpedo School at Sheerness.

Name Origin: Town in Asia Minor.

Name Origin: In the celebrated Portuguese poet Camoens Luisiad the name of the spirit of the Cape of Good Hope, who appears to Vasco da Gama’s fleet at night in the shapes of an awe-inspiring giant, and threatens revenge on the bold navigators for venturing to explore the secrets of his unknown sea.

Name Origin: Samuel Greig, a native of Scotland; born 1736, died 1788.  Entering the British Navy, he was present at the battle of Quiberon in 1759.  In 1764 he joined the Russian naval service, and soon rose to high rank.  The total destruction of the Turkish fleet at Chesme in 1770 was mainly due to him.  In 1788 he commanded in the Baltic and fought the Swedish fleet off Gogland, blockading it afterwards in the harbour of Sveaborg.

Name Origin: Waldimir Alexeievitch Korniloff, born 1806, died 1854.  He took part in the destruction of the Turkish squadron at Sinope in 1853, and greatly distinguished himself in the defence of Sebastopol during the Crimean War, when he was mortally wounded.

Name Origin: Michael Pertrovitch Lazareff, born 1788, died 1851.  He served from 1803 to 1808 onboard British ships.  In 1820 he accompanied Bellinghausen on his voyage round the world, and again circumnavigated the globe as Captain 1822-1825.  He commanded a division of the Russian fleet at the battle of Navarino 1827, and was Commander of the Black Sea fleet in 1834.

Name Origin: Stepan Ossipovitch Makaroff, born 1848, died 1904.  He entered the Navy in 1864 and took part in the Russian-Turkish War 1877-1878, as Lieutenant in command of an auxiliary cruiser in the Black Sea.  From 1886 to 1889, in command of the Vitiaz he carried out important and valuable hydrographer researches in the Northern Pacific, which work he continued whilst Commander-in-Chief on the station 1894-1896.  From 1899 to 1904 he was governor of Kronstadt.  The great icebreaker Yermak was built after his designs, and he undertook a voyage in her to Franz-Joseph-land.  Soon after the outbreak of the war with Japan in 1904 he was appointed to succeed Admiral Stark in command of the fleet blockaded in Port Arthur.  He at once displayed great activity and resource, and on April 13^th he took out the fleet on a reconnaissance for the first time.  On returning into port his flagship, the battleship Petropavlovsk, struck a floating mine and foundered at once, carrying with her Admiral and all but a few of her crew.

Name Origin: Gergor Andreievitch Spiridoff took part in the campaign in the Sea of Azov 1736-1739, and in 1756 in the actions of Copenhagen and Stralsund.  In 1760 he became Commandant of Reval, and later of Kronstadt.  In the victorious battle against the Turks off Chesme in 1770 he commanded the van of the Russian fleet, when his flagship blew up, but he was saved.  He improved the harbour of Poros, and established an atsenal and hospital there.  In 1774 he was promoted to Admiral and retired from the service.

Name Origin: Paul Vassilievitch Tehitchagoff, General and Admiral; born 1762, died 1849.  He was the son of Admiral Tchitchagoff, who commanded in the Baltic during the war with Sweden, 1788-1790, and who defeated the Swedes off Reval in the latter year.  He entered the Navy in 1782, became a Vice Admiral in 1802, and on an Admiral in 1807.  In 1812, during the invasion of Russia by the French, he raised and commanded the third Western army in Volhynia, and opposed and retarded Napoleon’s passage of the Beresina on the retreat from Moscow.  He quitted the service not long afterwards.

Name Origin: Jan van Wassener, Heer van (lord of) Obdam, was originally a Cavalry officer, who, late in life, joined the Navy.  In 1653, after the death of Admiral Martin H. Tromp, he was appointed Commander in Chief of the Dutch Navy, and sent a few years later with a squadron to assist the Danes against the Swedes.  He defeated the latter in the Soun, off Cronborg in 1658.  On June 13^th 1665, he commanded the fleet at the battle of Lowestoftoff the North Foreland, against the British under the Duke of york.  His flagship, the Eendragt, blew up during the action, and Wassenaer, with the greater part of his crew, perished in the explosion.

Name Origin: Adolphus, Duke of Nassau, younger brother of William the Silent.  He was killed in the battle of Heiligerlee, May 23^rd 1568, where Louis and Adolphus of Nassau defeated the Spaniards under Aremberg.

The fifteenth “Adventure” is a twin-screw scout, launched at Elswick in1904.  She is of 2670 tons, 15,920 horsepower, and 25 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught are 374ft., 38ft., and 14ft.  This vessel’s original name was “Eddystone,” but it was changed to “Adventure” before launching.

Adzuma

            It was during the reign to the twelfth Emperor Keiko that the famous Prince Yamato-Dake, the Heirapparent set out for the north-eastern parts of the main island of Nihon with the intention of subduing the Ainu aborigines, who were not then, as now, confined to the island of Yeso, but were spread over the entire region north of Yedo Bay.  In the course of the operations Prince Yamato-Dake had to cross this bay in a small boat, and his consort, the Princess Tachibana, accompanied him.  On the voyage, which is one of several leagues from Sagami to the opposite shore of Kadzusa, a storm arose, and the frail craft was on the point of foundering.  Then the princess, anxious to appease Neptune, and so secure a safe passage for the prince, sprang overboard, exclaiming, “O Neptune, King of Ocean, take me, but spare my husband!”  And to the princes she cried out, “Finish thou the task on which thou wert despatched!”  She then disappeared beneath the waves, and the sea became calm, the boat ultimately reaching Kadzusa in safety.  A comb, which the princess had worn in her hair, was afterwards washed ashore, and the villagers, in profound sorrow, reverently laid it for safe keeping in a mausoleum that is still pointed out to passers by.  Prince Yamato-Dake finally subjugated the Ainus, and some time afterwards was returning to the capital by way of the Nakasen-do, or Inner Mountain Road, which necessitated his climbing the celebrated Usui Pass, in the vicinity of Mount Asama (8000 feet), and as he gazed from this lofty position on the distant sea which had engulfed her, he cried aloud in his auguish, “O Adzuma! O Adzuma!”  (“My wife! My wife!”) in tender recollection of her who had sacrificed her life for his sake.  Adzuma has, from ancient days, been the title given in poetry to that part of Japan immediately to the east of this mountain pass.

Aegialia

Name Origin: Name derived from the verb affondare, to sink; the sinker.

Name Origin: A great seaman and conqueror, born 1453, died 1515.  A member of a noble family, descended from the ancient kings of Portugal, he was educated at the court of Alphonso V, and entering the Navy, soon distinguished he.  Sent in 1503 in command of a fleet to the East Indies, he captured the islands of Socotora and Ormuz, and blockaded the trade routes of the Venetians and Genoese.  He was made Viceroy of India in 1508, conquered Goa in 1510, and Malacca and Ceylon in the following years.  He bombarded Aden, and recaptured Ormuz in 1515.  Having been calumniated at Court, he was deposed from his Viceroyalty; but his age, wounds, and ill health caused his death onboard a man of war in sight of Goa on December 16^th 1515.

Name Origin: Portugal possesses ancient colonies on that continent.

Afroessa

The third “Agamemnon” was a twin-screw 4-gun turret ship, launched at Chatham in1879.  She was of 8490 tons, 6000 horsepower, and 13 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 280ft., 66ft., and 24ft. This ship was one of a type specially built to allow of their passage through the Suez Canal.  On going through in 1885, however, she ran aground many times and held up the traffic for several days.  She eventually got through to China, and under the command of Captain Samuel Long, she shadowed the Russian flagship “Vladimir Monomach” at a time of national crisis.  In 1888 the “Agamemnon” commanded by Captain Charles Searle Cardale, was one of a fleet in “Boadicea,” which took part in the blockade of the Zanzibar Littoral .  This was undertaken in the interests of the suppression of the slavery, and partly in consequence of the revolt of the several of the coast towns against German authority.  Apart from the capture of the slave dhows, the incident of the blockade was of an uninteresting nature. In 1903 the “Agamemnon” was sold.

Agile

Name Origin: Agile

Name Origin: A place in Abyssinia where, in 1893 the Italians under Arimondi defeated the natives.

Name Origin: One of the leaders of the Venetian fleet, which took part in the battle of Lepanto in 1571.  He distinguished himself greatly in this memorable and sanguinary fight of united Christians against the infidel, was severely wounded, and died an hour after victory was assured.

Aidon

Aigrette

Name Origin: Egret, a small white heron.

Name Origin: A places close to the arsenal at Constantinople.

Name Origin: Town in Asia Minor, near Aleppo.

Name Origin: Heron.

Name Origin: White castle, a town in Asia Minor.

Akagi

Akashi

Akebono

Aki

Akitsushima

Name Origin: The town of St. Jean d’ Acre, on the coast of Syria.

Aktion

The fifth “Alacrity” was a twin-screw despatch vessel, launched at Palmers Yard.  Jarrow-on-Tyne, in 1885.  She was of 1700 tons, 300-horse power, and 18 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 250ft, 32ft, and 14ft. In 1900 the “Alacrity,” commanded by commander Christopher George F. M. Cradock, took part in the third Chinese war or Boxer riots.  On June the 16^th commander Cradock landed at the head of a combined Anglo-German-Russian-Japanese-Italian-Austrian brigade of 35 officers and 869 men, and co-operated with the allied ships on the attack on the Taku Forts.  After the ships had effectively bombarded the forts, the allied brigade advanced to the attack, but finding the Chinese still needed further punishment, they took shelter in the cover afforded by a bend in the river.  At 4.30 a.m. on the 17^th the allies advanced, and captured all the forts on the north side of the river.  The British and Japanese scaled the parapet together, the Japanese commander being the first man up.  Having assisted commander Cradock up the wall the Japanese officer was killed.  The British casualties were 1 killed and 13 wounded.  Commander Cradock mentioned Lieutenant Eric Charrington, of the “Alacrity” as having distinguished himself, and commanded Surgeon Robley Browne of the same ship for his attention to the wounded.  On June 22^nd Commander Cradock commanded a column of 760 men of mixed nationalities, which arrived at Tientsin in spite of a vigorous opposition and assisted in the international defence of that place, and in the capture of Pieyang Arsenal.  During these Chinese operations the navy landed 167 officers and 2040 men.  They suffered 7 officers and 83 men killed, and 13 officers and 256 men wounded. During 1913 this vessel was ordered home to pay off, probably for the last time.

Name Origin: Albatross

Name Origin: George Monk, Duke of Albemarle, a great warrior at sea and on land, and restorer of the Monarchy after the Common wealth; born 1608, died 1670.  His first service was in the expeditions of Cadiz and Rochelle, 1625-1627.  After nine year’s service in Holland he took part in the wars against the Scots in 1639.  In 1642-1643 he fought against the Irish rebels, and in 1644 was taken prisoner by Fairfax, spending the next two years in the Tower.  As Major General he distinguished himself greatly at Dunbar in 1650, and was in consequence sent by Cromwell the following year to complete the subjection of Scotland.  In 1653 he was appointed, together with Blake and Deane, to operate at sea against the Dutch, who were twice defeated, though commanded by Tromp.  The following year, however, Cromwell sent Monk back to Scotland from where, in 1660, after the Protector’s death, he returned to London with an army, and put himself at the head of the movement in favour of the Restoration.  One of Charles II’s first acts was to create Monk Duke of Albemarle, entrusting him with the highest offices.  In 1665, during the plagues in London, he acted with much courage and determination as Governor of the City.  He once more served at sea in the following year, when he acted as the Duke of York’s second in the battles against the Dutch which culminated in the victory off the North Foreland.

Albert

Name Origin: (Victoria)-Albert, Prince consort, husband of the late Queen Victoria.  Born 1819, second son of the Duke Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he was married February 10^th 1840, and died December 14^th 1861.

The “Alberta” was a Royal paddle yacht, launched at Pembroke in 1863.  She was of 370 tons, 1200 horsepower, and 13 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 160ft, 22ft, and 8ft.   In 1912 this Royal yacht was broken up at Portsmouth.

  The sixth “Albion” is a 14-gun twin-screw battleship, built at Blackwall in 1898.  She is of 12,950 tons, 13,500 horsepower, and 18 knots speed.  Her length, draught, and beam were 390ft, 74ft, and 26ft.  An unfortunate accident took place when she was launched on June 21^st.  A wave caused by her displacement ran up a side creek, and brought about the collapse of a staging upon which 200 people were standing.  Although every available means of rescue were used, 34 persons were drowned, the unhappy victims, with few exceptions, being women and children.

Name Origin: Halcyon.  In Greek mythology the wife of Ceyz, king of Trochis.  He perished by shipwreck, where upon his broken hearted wife flung herself into the sea.  The gods, moved to pity by such grief, changed her and her husband into sea birds, which were supposed to build their nest upon the waves about the time of the winter solstice, during which period the sea would remain calm.  Hence the term “halcyon days” to designate a time of happiness and tranquillity.

Name Origin: Eagle

The seventeenth “Alert” is a 6-gun screw sloop launched at Sheerness in 1894.  She is of 960 tons, 1400 horsepower, and 13 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 180ft, 32ft, and 12ft.  In December 1902 the “Alert”, commanded by commander John B. Eustace, was one of a combined Anglo-German fleet under Commodore R. A. J. Montgomerie, with his broad pennant in “Charybdis,” which established a blockade of the Venezuelan coast.  These retaliatory measures were taken on account of outrages on British ships, for which no satisfaction could be obtained. The boats of the fleet took nine Venezuelan gunboats or small craft; the “alert” seized the “Zumbador” in the gulf of Paria, and two were taken to sea and sunk.  President Castro immediately imprisoned all the British and German subjects in Venezuela, but he was forced to release them by the American consul.  A British merchantman was seized by the mob at Puerto Cabello, but two ships at once went there, and having released the vessel, bombarded the fort.  After eight weeks blockade in which the British and German vessels divided the coast between them, the Venezuelans consented to arrangements, which brought the blockade to a conclusion.  A small Italian force also assisted in the blockade.   Although at one time dismantled and laid up at Bermuda, she was brought forward for service, and in 1910 and later years the “Alert” under various commanding officers, was employed in the suppression of the gun-running traffic in the Persian Gulf.

Alerta

The first Alerta was a torpedo boat launched 1880 - 1882, and discarded around 1910.

Name Origin: Aleutian, inhabitant of the Aleutian Islands.

Name Origin: Queen Alexandra, Consort of H.M. the King, born 1844, daughter of the late King Christian IX of Denmark.

Name Origin: The name of the Emperor’s summer residence at Peterhoff, near St. Petersburg.

Name Origin: Alexander the Good, Prince of Moldavia, reigned from 1401 to 1433

Name Origin: former Minister of foreign affairs.  Died in 1897.

Alger

Name Origin: The town of Algiers, capital of Algeria.  It was occupied by the French in 1830.

Algerien

Name Origin: Algerian.

The sixth “Algerine” is a 6-gun twin-screw gunboat, launched at Devonport in 1895.  She is of 1050 tons, 1400 horsepower, and 13 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 185ft, 32ft, and 12ft.   In 1900 the “Algerine” commanded by commander Robert Johnston Stewart took part in the third China war or boxer riots.   On June 17^th the “Algerine” was one of a fleet of 8 ships and several torpedo boats of various nationalities, which took part in the attack on the Taku forts under Captain Dobrolovski in the Russian gunboat “Bobr.”  The Chinese having received their ultimatum, opened fire soon after midnight, the ships replying with vigour.  Simultaneously a landing party of 35 officers and 869 men, of mixed nationalities, under commander Christopher Cradock of the “Alacrity” attacked from the landward side with great gallantry.  The “Algerine” had a steam cutter hulled at the davits, some rigging cut away, and 6 men wounded.  At 7.10 a.m. the engagement ceased, Commander Cradock having captured and occupied the forts against heavy odds.  The “Algerine” subsequently landed a 4-in gun, which did good work in the operations resulting in the capture of Tientsin and elsewhere.

Name Origin: Diamond.

Almirante Brown

The first Almirante Brown was a battleship launched 6th October 1880 and stricken 17th November 1932.  The next Almirante Brown was a Veinticinco De Mayo class cruiser launched 28th September 1929 and discarded 27th June 1961.  This ship was involved in a collision with the Buenos Aries class destroyer Buenos Aries on 3rd October 1941 in which the destroyer was lost.  The next Almirante Brown is a Meko 360 H2 Class frigate launched 28th March 1981.

Almirante Cochrane