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

Name Origin: Admiral Thomas Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald; born 1775, died 1860.  After a distinguished career in the British Navy he entered the Chilean service in 1818 and took command of her naval forces, which he at once began to organise in view, of the coming struggle for independence.  On January 14^th 1819, he hoisted his flag as Admiral and Commander in chief, onboard the frigate O’Higgins.  The following month he appeared with the Chilean fleet of Callao, which he blockaded closely, seizing at the same time, as a base, the island of San Lorenzo.  On February 3^rd 1820, he made a brilliant and successful attack on the Spaniards at Valdivia.  In the same year he escorted the military expedition sent to liberate Peru.  As soon as the army under General San Martin had disembarked, he attacked the Spanish frigate emerald, under the batteries of Callao, on the night of November 5^th 1820, and captured her by boarding with 14 boats under his personal leadership.  In January 1823 he left Chile to take service in Brazil.  His memory as a great seaman is cherished in Chile to this day.

Almirante Condell

Name Origin: During the war with Peru he commanded the schooner Covadonga, and in her took part in the memorable action off Iquique on May 21^st 1879, distinguishing himself greatly in an unequal contest with the frigate Independencia.  In command of the ironclad Huascar, captured in the above named action, he subsequently bombarded the forts of Callao.

Almirante Lynch

Name Origin: Admiral Lynch.  Born in Chile, of a family of Irish extraction, he joined the fleet, which in 1838, was being prepared in Chris against the Peruvian-Bolivian alliance, and took part in the blockade of Callao and the capture of their frigate Socabaya.  In 1840 he took part in the campaign against china onboard one of the British vessels, receiving a gold medal for his services.  In the subsequent war against Peru and Bolivia he greatly distinguished himself in command of the landing parties from the fleet, and eventually commanded the army of occupation.  He died in 1885.

Almirante Simpson

Name Origin: Admiral Simpson.  One of the three former British naval officers who entered the Chilean Navy with Lord Cochrane.  He received the rank of Lieutenant in 1820, and as such took part in the blockade of Callao and other operations.  Between 1825 and 1827 he filled important missions to Peru and Mexico.  In 1838 he succeeded to the chief command of the squadron, which operated on the coast of Peru, and as such effected with great success the disembarkation of the Army at Ancon.  On January 12^th 1839, he inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy at Casma.  He subsequently held high posts in the naval and military administration, and died in 1880.

Alose

Name Origin: Shad.

Name Origin: One of the ancestors of the Osmanli dynasty.

Alphios

Name Origin: Don Francisco Alsedo y Bustamente, born 1760, died 1805.  Having entered the Navy, he took part in the attack on Algiers in 1783, when he was twice wounded.  During the war with the French Republic, 1793-1795, he distinguished himself at the capture of Fort Delfin in the island of St. Domingo.  He was killed at the battle of Trafalgar, October 21^st 1805, in command of the line of battle ship Montanes, which he fought with great gallantry.

Amakusa

Name Origin: The chief city of one of the four ancient Italian maritime republics.  It was the birthplace of Flavio Gioja, the reputed inventor of the mariner’s compass.

Amapa

Name Origin: Name of a territory north of the Amazon river which for two centuries formed the object of the rival claims of France and Portugal (later Brazil), and which was definitely awarded to Brazil in 1900 by the Swiss Government acting as arbitrator.

Name Origin: In Greek mythology a tribe of warlike women, who under the leadership of a queen, fought against many of the mythical heroes.  The ship name commemorates the capture of the French Amazone, 20 in 1745.

Name Origin: Amerlie, Queen of Portugal, widow of the late King Carlos I, and daughter of the late Comte de Paris; born 1865, married 1886.

Name Origin: An Italian navigator after whom America is named, born in Florence in 1451, died in Seville 1512.  In 1490 he settled as a merchant in Spain.  In 1499 he joined Admiral Ojeda in an expedition to the New World; he then entered the Portuguese service and made two more exploring expeditions to America in 1501 and 1503.  His name was given to the newly discovered continent by a publisher at St Die, who in 1507 published a narrative of his voyages, which contained the first printed account of the New World.

Name Origin: The first ship to bear this name was the French frigate Perle, 36, one of the vessels surrendered at Toulon to Lord Hood in December 1793.

Amiral Aube

Name Origin: Hyacinthe L. T. Aube, born 1826, died 1890.  Entering the Navy in 1840 he was, on the outbreak of war with Germany 1870, promoted to Captain and entrusted with the organisation of the defences of Carentan, but subsequently fought inland against General von Werder.  As Rear Admiral in 1882 he was entrusted with the trials and experiments of the newly invented torpedo boats, of which he quickly became the champion.  As Minister of Marine in 1886 and 1887 he gave effect to these views by creating large torpedo flotillas, against which he considered the battleship to be powerless, and hence quite useless in naval war.  He also advocated the “Guerre de Course” against an enemy’s maritime trade, and the methods he put forward found many adherents amongst the younger naval generation.

Amiral Baudin

Name Origin: Admiral Charles Baudin, born 1784, died 1854.  He lost an arm as Midshipman in an action in the East Indies 1808, and was promoted to Commander in 1812 for the capture of an English brig whilst in command of a small transport vessel.  Retiring after the fall of Napoleon, he re-entered the Navy in 1830, on the accession of Louis Philippe, and became a Rear Admiral in 1838.  As such he commanded the fleet in the Mexican expedition, bombarded St. Juan de Ulloa, captured Vera Cruz, and defeated General Santa Anna.  Vice Admiral and Commander in Chief in South America in 1840, he became Minister of Marine in 1841, and Commander in Chief of the French Mediterranean fleet 1848-1849, Admiral 1853.

Amiral Charner

Name Origin: Admiral Charner, born 1797.  In 1832 he assisted at the capture of Ancona, and a few years later most ably succeeded in subduing a dangerous fire in the dockyard of Toulon.  In 1852 he became Rear Admiral.  He commanded the French fleet in the Black Sea during the greater part of the Vrimean War, and was promoted to Vice-Admiral in 1855.  In 1860 he commanded the French squadron during the war with china, and together with Admiral Hope, Commander in Chief of the British squadron, directed and personally conducted the successful operations on the Peiho River.  In 1861 he commanded the expedition against Cochin China, totally defeated the Annamites, and took Saigon.  In 1864 he was made “Amiral de France.”

Amiral Trehouart

Name Origin: Francois Thomas Trehouart, born 1798, died 1873.  He entered the Navy as a common seaman, and was present in the last actions of the Great War.  He took part in the battle of Navarino 1827, for which he received a Lieutenant’s commission.  The French forces were commanded by him in 1845 at the attack on Obligado on the La Plata, and he was promoted to Rear Admiral for this service.  In 1855 he replaced Admiral Bruet in command of the Mediterranean squadron, and directed the transportation of the French army from the Crimea back to France.  He was for a considerable time a member of the Conseil de L’Amiraute.

Name Origin: Admiral Count Simon Pacoret di Saint Bon.  He distinguished himself as Captain of the formidable in the attack on Lissa July 10^th 1866, engaging the Madonna Battery at three hundred yards.  He was Minister of Marine from 1873 to 1876, and again from 1891 until his death in November 1892, and did much towards reforming and strengthening the Italian Navy.

Amphitrite

Name Origin: In Greek mythology the wife of Poseidon (Neptune) and daughter of Oceanus; the queen of the sea.  She fled to Mount Atlas to escape from the importunities of her future husband, but was found and brought back by a dolphin, which Poseidon had sent after her.

Name Origin: River in East Siberia.

Name Origin: Inhabitant of the lands along the banks of the river Amur in East Siberia.

Amvrakia

An-Lan

Name Origin: To pacifies the waves.

Name Origin: Boa aquatica, a species of python.

Name Origin: River in Northeastern Siberia.

Andrada

Name Origin: Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva, a statesman who took a prominent part in the struggle for independence.

Name Origin: A member of one of the chief patrician families of the republic of Genoa, which family produced a number of distinguished naval men; born 1468, died 1560.  He was one of the ablest statesmen and commanders of his time, and victoriously served the Pope and various other potentates and princes.  He commanded a combined fleet in the service of Francis I of France, and entered the service of the Emperor Charles V in 1528.  He captured Koron and Patras from the Turks, commanded the Imperial fleet in 1535 during the expedition to Tunis, and saved a similar expedition against Algiers from destruction.  In 1543 he protected Nice against an attack by the French fleet and its ally, the fleet of the renegade Bey of Tunis and celebrated pirate, Chaireddin Barbarossa.  During the last years of his life he was Commander in Chief of the Genoese Navy, and expelled the French from Corsica in 1554.

Name Origin: “Andrew the pre-eminent,” the apostle St. Andrew.  The highest Russian order of knighthood is that of St. Andrew, and the Russian Naval Ensign bears the cross of St. Andrew, blue on white ground.

Name Origin: In Greek mythology the daughter of the Ethiopian King, Cepheus, and of the beautiful Cassiopeia.  When her mother boasted that Andromeda was lovelier than the Nereids, these, out of revenge, instigated Poseidon (Neptune) to flood Cepheus kingdom, and send thither a terrible sea dragon.  The oracle having declared that Andromeda must be sacrificed to the beast, she was chained to a rock, from which Perseus, returning from his destruction of the Gordon Medusa, rescued her by slaying the monster.

Anegawa

Name Origin: River in North Siberia flowing into Lake Baikal.

The second Angler was an Angler class destroyer, launched 1897 and scrapped 1920.

Name Origin: Town in Asia Minor.

Anguille

Name Origin: Eel

Name Origin: Admiral of the fleet George Anson, Lord Anson; born 1697, died 1762.  He entered the Navy 1712, became Lieutenant 1716, Commander 1722, and Captain 1724.  In 1740, as a Captain, he received the command of 6 ships (his own being the Centurion), with which to injure Spanish trade in the Pacific.  During an eventful cruise, lasting close upon four years, in which he circumnavigated the globe, he captured the Acapulco galleon with an immense treasure.  This memorable voyage, chiefly of a peaceful character, added largely to the knowledge of navigation and geography.  On his return in 1774 he was made a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty.  On May 3^rd 1747, he defeated, off Cape Finisterre, a French squadron under Admiral de la Jonquiere, for which service he was raised to the Peerage and promoted to Vice-Admiral.  The contest was very unequal, Jonquiere, whose destination was Canada, with a large convoy under his charge, having only 5 ships of the line and some frigates against Anson’s 14.  After a gallant struggle, almost the whole of the French force surrendered, the Admiral being wounded.  Further advanced to Admiral in 1748, Anson was made Vice-Admiral of England in 1749, and in 1751 succeeded Lord Sandwich as First Lord of the Admiralty.  Made Admiral of the Fleet in 1761, he died the following year.

The fourth Ant was a tender purchased 1913 and sold 1924.

Name Origin: A maritime county in the extreme northeast of Ireland.  The famous Giant’s Causeway, one of the most perfect specimens of columnar basalt in Europe, is on the north coast of this country.  Its principal town is Belfast, a large city celebrated for its shipbuilding and linen industry.

Aotaka

The sixth “Apollo” is an 8-gun twin-screw cruiser, launched at Devonport in 1891.  She is of 3400 tons, 9000 horsepower, and 20 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 300ft, 43ft, and 17ft. For some years the “Apollo” has acted as a special mine-laying vessel.

The “Aquarius” is a screw repair ship built at Sunderland in 1902 as the “Hampstead.”  She is of 2800 tons, 1100 horsepower, and 10 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 268ft, 38ft, and 16ft. This vessel acts as a distilling vessel and oil tank, in addition to her repair duties.

Name Origin: Eagle.

Aquilon

Name Origin: The north wind.

Name Origin: The north wind (in the case of this vessel).

The tenth “Arab” was a 4-gun screw gunboat, launched at Glasgow in 1874.  She was of 720 tons, 660 horsepower, and 10.4 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 150ft, 28ft, and 14ft.  In 1884 the “Arab” commanded by commander R. W. Stopford, was engaged in the operations in the Eastern Soudan, and assisted in the defence of Suakin.  In 1889 the “Arab” was sold.

Arare

Arbalete

Name Origin: Cross bow

Arc

Name Origin: Bow (weapon).

Name Origin: Heron.

Name Origin: Commemorates the destruction of a French 64-gun ship of that name which was driven ashore in Quiberon Bay by Admiral Lestock’s squadron on October 1^st 1746.

Name Origin: Ardjuno, an active volcano on the island of Java.

Name Origin: Aretusa.  In Greek mythology a nymph who lived in Arcadia.  To escape the importunities of Alpheus, the river god, who had become enamoured of her while she was bathing in his stream.  Artemis (Diana), at her solicitation, changed her into a fountain and opened up an underground passage for her into Irtygia, a small island in the harbour of Syracuse (in Sicily), and site of the present town.  Her lover pursued the nymph below the sea, appearing in the spring that still bubbles up close to the fountain of Arethusa.

Name Origin: The river Argesu, flowing through Romania.

The fourth “Argonaut” is a 16-gun twin-screw cruiser, launched at Govan in 1898.  She is of 11,000 tons, 18,000 horsepower, and 20.8 knots speed.  Her length, bema, and draught were 435ft, 69ft, and 25ft.  This vessel eventually became a training ship for stokers at Portsmouth.

Argonaute

Name Origin: Argonaut.  In Greek mythology a name given to the heroes who undertook a long voyage in the Argo, under Jason’s command, for the purpose of obtaining the “golden fleece” of the ram which had carried Phrixus to Colehis.  They were successful in their enterprise after a long cruise, abounding in stirring adventures and hairbreadth escapes.

Name Origin: River in East Siberia, tributary of the Amur.

Argus

Name Origin: In Greek mythology a giant with a hundred eyes-the embodiment of watchfulness-who was set by Hera (Juno) to guard Io, whom Zeus (Jupiter) had transformed into a cow.  He was lulled to sleep by the music of Hermes (Mercury), who then struck off his head.  Hera transferred his eyes to the peacock’s tail.

The second “Argyll” is a 10-gun twin-screw cruiser, launched at Greenock in 1904.  She is of 10,850 tons, 21,190 horsepower, and 22.4 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 450ft, 68ft, and 25ft.  From November 1911 to February 1912, the “Argyll,” commanded by Captain Michael Culme Seymour, had the honour of acting as one of the escort to H.M.S. “Medina.”  The “Medina,” flying The Royal Standard, was conveying the King-Emperor, His Majesty King George the Fifth to India, where her Majesty’s coronation Durbar was held at Delhi on December 12^th, 1911.

The sixth “Ariadne” is a 16-gun twin-screw cruiser, launched at Clydebank in 1898.  She is of 11,000 tons, 18,000 horsepower, and 21 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 435ft, 69ft, and 25ft.  In 1902 the “Ariadne,” commanded by Captain Montagu E. Browning, and flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir A.L. Douglas, controlled the arrangements of the blockade of the mostly at Trinidad, the active work of the blockade being entrusted to Commodore R. A. J. Montgomerie, with his broad pennant in “Charybdis.”

Ari-ake

Aris

Name Origin: The half legendary chieftain and first Grand Prince of the Magyars, who lived from about 890 to 907.  He led the Magyars, who were then settled between the Sereth and Dnieper, to the conquest and settlement of Hungary.  His descendants ruled over Hungary for 400 years.

Name Origin: Harpy.  In Greek mythology the Harpies are goddesses of the storm; sometimes represented as beautiful women, at others as disgusting monsters, half women, half bird.  When Phineus, son of King Aegnor, blinded his own sons, the Harpies were sent by the gods to devour and soil all his food in punishment.

Arquebuse

Name Origin: Arquebuse, a cross bow.

Arrogant

The ninth “Arrogant” is a 10-gun twin-screw cruiser, launched at Devonport in 1896.  She is of 5750 tons and 10,000 horsepower.  Her length, beam, and draught were 355ft, 56ft, and 21ft.  For some years this vessel has acted as a depot ship for submarine boats.

Name Origin: Lion (Turkish).

Name Origin: Artilleryman.  The ship name commemorates the old corps of Piedmontese artillery.

The Arun is a twin-screw torpedo-boat destroyer, launched at Birkenhead in 1903.  She is of 550 tons, 7000 horsepower, and 27 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 225ft, 23ft, and 10ft.  On August 13^th, 1904, the “Arun” while commanded by commander Reginald Y. Tyrwhitt, collided with the torpedo-boat destroyer “Decoy” off the Scilly Island.  The “Decoy” sank and was never recovered, but no lives were lost.

Asagiri

Asahi

Asakaze

Asama

Asashio

Asatsuyu

Name Origin: A Variag (Varangian) chief, who lived at Kieff in the ninth century.

Aso

Name Origin: A village is Lower Austria on an arm of the Danube, about two miles from the village of Essling, where on May 21^st and 22^nd 1809, the Austrian under Archduke Charles repulsed Napoleon’s advance, defeating his centre under Marshal Lannes, who fell in the battle.

Aspis

Name Origin: Protectorate on the east coast of Sumatra.

Name Origin: “Signals of glory” (Arabic).

Name Origin: “Signals of success” (Arabic).

The ninth “Assistance” was a 2-gun screw troopship, launched at Blackwall in 1874.  She was of 2307 tons, 1300 horsepower, and 12 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 250ft, 38ft, and 17ft.  In 1897 the “Assistance” was sold

Name Origin: Goshawk.

Name Origin: In Greek mythology the daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) and Themis (Justitia), goddess of justice.  She was the last divinity to leave the earth when the “golden age” had passed away, and took her place in heaven as the constellation Virgo.  The ship name commemorates the capture of the Spanish Astraca, 18, at Porto Bello, by Admiral Vernon’s squadron in 1739.

Name Origin: Atlas.  In Greek mythology son of the titan Iapetus and Clymene, and brother of Prometheus.  He was father of the Pleiades.  As leader of the Titans he attempted to storm the heavens, and for this treason he was condemned by Zeus to bear the vault of heaven on his head and hands, in the neighbourhood of the Hesperides at the western extremity of the earth, where day and night meet, on the mountains in the northwest of Africa, still called by his name.

Name Origin: Bold.

The third Attentive was an Adventure class cruiser, launched 1904, scrapped 1920.

Audacieux

Name Origin: Audacious.

Name Origin: Audacious.

Name Origin: The Latin name of the goddess of dawn, Eos in Greek.  She is the mother of the winds and of the morning star.  Arising from her bed in the ocean, she ascends the heavens in her chariot, preceding Apollo, the sun god.

Aventurier

Name Origin: Adventurer.

Averne

Name Origin: Lake Avernus, close to the Gulf of Baise, near Naples.  It was supposed by the Greeks and Romans to form the entrance to the nether regions.

Avernus

Name Origin: (New South Wales)-Lake Avernus, close to the Gulf of Baiae, near Naples, supposed by the Greeks and Romans to form the entrance to the nether regions.

Name Origin: “The aid of God” (Arabic).

The fourth “Avon” was a 4-gun twin-screw gunboat, launched at Portsmouth in 1867.  She was of 603 tons, 530 horsepower, and 10 knots speed.  Her length, beam, and draught were 155ft, 25ft, and 10ft.  In 1873 the “Avon,” commanded by Commander John C. Paterson, was engaged in the suppression of piracy on the coast of Perak.  On December 11^th of that year she came across three trading craft at a moment when six boats full of piratical cutthroats were attacking them.  The “Avon” drove them off with loss, but did not succeed in capturing any of them, though the subsequently destroyed some stockades at the mouth of the Jugra River, in which they were supposed to have taken shelter.  In May 1874 the “Avon,” commanded by commander Armand T. Powlett, in company with two other vessels, proceeded up the Lingie River, near Malacca, which was a centre of piratical activity.  Some stockades were burned at Bukit Tiga, and the River Lingie was re-opened to the trade, with the rich tin mines in the interior. In 1876 the “Avon,” commanded by Commander Leicester Chantrey Keppel, was one of a fleet of 12 ships under Commodore Sir William Hewett, with his broad pennant in “Active,” which engaged in the blockade of Dahomey on the Nigerian Coast.  The blockade lasted for eleven months in a pestilential climate, and at the end of that time King Gelele entered onto negotiations, and the blockade was raised.  In January 1877 the “Avon” proceeded up the Congo River, and burned five villages, as a punitive measure in reply to the natives having pillaged the American trading schooner “Joseph Nickerson.”  In August 1877 the “Avon” proceeded up the River Niger in company with two other vessels upon a punitive expedition.  They burned the town of Emblana, and assisted to Chastise some anti-British natives, who had refused to release some British prisoners.  During the advance the “Avon” ran on to a sandbank, and delayed the attack for some hours.  The ships left the river on August 28^th, having had only 3 men wounded.   In 1890 this vessel was sold.

Name Origin: Aurora, the Latin name of the goddess Dawn; Eos, in Greek.  She is the mother of the winds and of the morning star.  Arising from her bed in the ocean, she ascends and heavens in her chariot, preceding Apollo, the sun god.

Name Origin: Vulture.

Name Origin: “Appertaining to Aziz.”  Sultan Abdul Aziz, born 1829, succeeded to the throne 1861, died 1877.  He was noted for his extravagance, which brought the country to a state of insolvency in 1875.  He was the first Ottoman sovereign who left his dominions, visiting England during his travels in 1869; a British battleship then building was named Sultan after him.  He was disposed in 1876, and the following year he died a mysterious death in the palace, where he had been kept virtually a prisoner.

Azopardo

Azopardo was an Azopardo Class patrol escort, launched 11th December 1953 and discarded 1973.  The next Azopardo is a Spanish Halcon Type Corvette, launched 14th October 1981.

Name Origin: Goshawk.