But then when HMCS Kamsack rammed HMS Pink right amidships between her … Those are a suggestive pair of names to be sure.
The very earliest versions had a deservedly bad reputation. The first couple of years in service had experienced a persistent flow of unexplained nose-dives into the dirt with no survivors. USAF & GD finally figured out what the problem was. They added some more redundancy to the power supplies for the flight control computers and tweaked a couple of other things as they were being built, then retrofitted the change to the existing fleet. That comprehensively stopped the problem.
By the time I got there in 1985 actual lawn-darting was a thing of the past. But the name stuck with the folks in other communities who wanted a way to tweak our noses.
Then there was the Vultee BT-13 Valiant – called the Vultee Vibrator.
Once in service, the aircraft quickly got its nickname of “Vibrator.” There are several explanations given for this nickname. 1: Because it had a tendency to shake quite violently as it approached its stall speed. 2. During more adventurous maneuvers the canopy vibrated. 3. On takeoff, the aircraft caused windows on the ground to vibrate. 4. The two-position propeller had an irritating vibration in high pitch.
Back toward the topic (sort of), I don’t care for the moniker ‘Raptor’ for the F-22. The intention was good, as we have the Eagle and the Falcon, both of which are named after raptors. But since Jurassic Park, I think most people think of velociraptors, and not birds of prey.
Not true. The Excalibur is a 155mm projectile, not a missile. It is guided however.
The Durandal is a 200kg runway denial bomb.
A lot of the names (US) are convoluted acronyms dreamed up by the contractor or project manager. Examples are:
TOW - Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided
HAWK - Homing All the Way Killer
PATRIOT - Phased Array TRacking to Intercept Of Target (woof)
Neat, I didn’t realize Patriot was an acronym; you don’t see it spelled in all caps much. Don’t let Europeans contractors and project managers off though, the European equivalent to the TOW is the HOT ( Haut subsonique Optiquement Téléguidé Tiré d’un Tube , or High Subsonic, Optical, Remote-Guided, Tube-Launched) and its shorter ranged cousin MILAN isn’t named after the city in Italy, it means Missile d’Infanterie Léger Antichar (French for “Lightweight Infantry Anti-tank Missile”).
I don’t have time right now to read the whole thread, so forgive me if this is a repeat. But the cool names are for getting budgets approved. Much time is spent on planning development and production facilities in geographic locations that neatly coincide with powerful Senator’s districts, and names that will appeal to the administration in power. “Peacekeeper” was named to appeal to Jimmy Carter, for example.
The UH-1 (Utility Helicopter - 1) was officially named the “Iroquois”. The troops in Viet Nam were having nothing to do with that nonsense and named it the “Huey”
Is there a comparison to naming weapons and cars? Maybe names that sound vaguely Spanish or Italian. Then posh place names. A bunch of letters and one number pushed together. Or just adding the prefix “cyber” to the vehicle type.
They’re both the product at least partially of marketing, but after that I think the comparison falls apart.
Weapons have names that appeal to jingoistic politicians of a particular country and are heavy in (corny) acronyms. Weapons in many countries are also nomenclatured according to some big central bureaucratic system separately from their marketing name. AGM-118 is not nonsense letters & numbers; each letter & digit means something useful within the nomencalture system.
Cars generally have names that are pronounceable worldwide, chosen to be inoffensive in every major language, and are mostly meaningless, but euphonious. Which is why they’re often sort of vaguely Spanish / Italian looking. They also tend to end in vowels that suggest a feminine grammatic gender.
The alternative to the nonsense names are products aimed at a narrow market segment in a single country: Dodge Ram, Toyota Tundra, etc. Tough names for tough vehicles for tough guys. The Chevy Powderpuff is not a pickup truck that would sell well.
A few names, such as Corvette, are simply legacies from the naming styles of 50+ years ago.
And yes, some companies go with a letter or number scheme. MB & BMW are good examples. Although sometimes there is logic behind the overall scheme, vaguely akin to the military nomenclature system. And sometimes not.
Corvette is a borrowing from military naval nomenclature, being originally a smallish warship, between a frigate and sloop in size during the age of sail, or slightly smaller than a frigate in the 20th Century.
Grumman originally wanted the name for the F6F Hellcat fighter to be “Tomcat” but the Navy objected because of the word’s association with sexual promiscuity. By the time the Grumman F-14 made its debut in the 1970s, “Tomcat” was deemed less risqué.
I think there is something to be said for smiting your enemies using Toasted Marshmallow or Pointy Twig. But I concede this may not be a widespread opinion.
I’ve always loved these Japanese destroyer names. A famous one: “Fubuki” means “blowing snow.” Beautiful.
Heavy cruisers named for mountains, light cruisers named for rivers. Carriers often named for mythological birds. I approve! If you can’t go cool then go poetic.
Then, their battleships were named for provinces, which is remarkably similar to the US naming theirs for states (Iowa, New Jersey, etc.)
