# Cool Ship or Boat Names. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756 "2007-08-24T13:40:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/1 "2007-08-24T13:40:18Z")
Real or fictional, star-, air-, or sea-, funny or unique: come one, come all! Try to avoid macho fist-pumping military names like _Dauntless_ or _Intrepid._ Tom Strange, of the ABC comic book _Terra Obscura,_ had a spaceship called _Strange Adventure._ I’ve always loved this name, and if I ever fulfill my dream of owning a sailboat, that’s what I’ll call it. In Philip Jose Farmer’s _Riverworld_ books, Sam Clemens had a riverboat called _Not For Hire_ and its launch was called the _Post No Bills._ I always liked that the “runabouts” in _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine_ were named after Earth rivers. The _Ganges,_ the _Orinoco,_ the _Rubicon_ were all names of DS9 runabouts. _HMS Surprise_ has been both a real and a fictional Royal Navy vessel. When I was in the Navy I found it amusing that so many of our nation’s ships are named after landlocked cities or states. What’ve y’all got? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/2 "2007-08-24T13:44:04Z")
The main character in Michael Connelly’s book _Blood Work_ lives on a boat named _The Following Sea_, which is but one of the many lovely poetic touches in what is otherwise a relatively hard-boiled serial killer story. Standard disclaimer whenever I mention _Blood Work_: Please read the book. Please don’t see the movie – before, during, or after reading the book. What Eastwood did to that novel should be prosecutable as some form of rape. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@Dusty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/3 "2007-08-24T14:04:46Z")
There’s the “Damfino”, Buster Keaton’s ill-fated homemade boat in _The Boat_ (1921). ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/4 "2007-08-24T14:08:04Z")
I’ve always been partial to the classical name “Argo” from Jason and the Argonauts. It conjures up visions of wine dark seas and high adventure. When I get my boat, it will be named _Argo_! ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/5 "2007-08-24T14:10:54Z")
[QUOTE=TwoTrouts] I’ve always been partial to the classical name “Argo” from Jason and the Argonauts. It conjures up visions of wine dark seas and high adventure. When I get my boat, it will be named _Argo_! [/QUOTE] Will your crew be countless, and screaming? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/6 "2007-08-24T14:16:09Z")
My fishing boat, being small, clumsy and colourful, was named Clownfish. I wanted to name our sailboat Dragonfly, but I was outvoted and she was christened SeaBiscuit. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/7 "2007-08-24T14:16:17Z")
_Kerry Dancer_ from an Alistair MacLean novel. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/8 "2007-08-24T14:16:59Z")
In the 1950’s the Royal Navy had a patrol vessel called HMS Gay Bruiser. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/9 "2007-08-24T14:22:05Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] HMS Gay Bruiser. [/QUOTE] :eek: Rum, sodomy, and the lash, indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/10 "2007-08-24T14:22:19Z")
Up here a couple of years ago I saw a very nice sailboat. On the stern was _Campbell’s Sloop_, and it was done in the Campbell’s script. But the one I really liked was a small open sloop **Spiny Norman** and I saw as we were kayaking in Marina del Rey. It’s name was _Fred_. It was the perfect name for that boat. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/11 "2007-08-24T14:22:48Z")
You mentioned spaceships in your OP, so I’ll continue on that theme with “Heart of Gold” from _Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/12 "2007-08-24T14:25:45Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] In the 1950’s the Royal Navy had a patrol vessel called HMS Gay Bruiser. [/QUOTE] Let me guess: it spent most of its time cruising? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/13 "2007-08-24T15:00:05Z")
The Royal Navy surely has the coolest names. _Victory, Illustrious, Indefatigable, Victoria._ ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/14 "2007-08-24T15:02:49Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] Will your crew be countless, and screaming? [/QUOTE] I would be understandably wary of weak lights masquerading as lighthouses. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/15 "2007-08-24T15:14:49Z")
I’ve always liked the name of Farley Mowat’s yacht, from a pirate ship: _Happy Adventure_. As for naming a ship [HMS _Victoria_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=416147)… it was a good idea, but now I’m not sure I’d want to be on a ship with that name. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/16 "2007-08-24T15:18:45Z")
Largo’s ship in the James Bond novel and film **Thunderball** sounds romantic – the _Disco Volante_. Translated to English (as they did in the remake, **Never Say Never Again** it loses a lot of the romance – the _Flying Saucer_. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/17 "2007-08-24T15:20:27Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] The Royal Navy surely has the coolest names. _Victory, Illustrious, Indefatigable, Victoria._ [/QUOTE] Isn’t there a reference somewhere in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the HMS Illustrious, the HMS Dauntless, and the HMS Suicidal Insanity, or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/das_glasperlenspiel/32/2944_2.png) [@Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Das_Glasperlenspiel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/18 "2007-08-24T15:21:30Z")
I’ve got two: I saw this one while I was fishing in BC - _“Irene’s Mink”_ I have sometimes wondered if she ever did get the mink. The other featured large in Gerald Durell’s _“My Family and Other Animals”_ - the _“Bootle Bumtrinket”_ . Its portrayal in a BBC adapatation was exactly how I had imagined it to look. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/19 "2007-08-24T15:25:28Z")
I like the ships (etc.) in Iain M Banks’ _culture_ novels - they’re often named with witty, pithy little phrases like ‘So Much For Subtlety’, ‘Bad For Business’ or ‘It Was Like That When I Got Here’ ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756/20 "2007-08-24T15:27:56Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] As for naming a ship [HMS _Victoria_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=416147)… it was a good idea, but now I’m not sure I’d want to be on a ship with that name. [/QUOTE] That’s a remarkable story. The way that the ship ended up embedded the sea floor is astonishing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-ship-or-boat-names/416756.md?page=2)