# Favourite warship name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218 "2009-09-23T12:22:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/101 "2009-09-25T23:10:08Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > I’ve always been partial to _Intrepid_. Besides evoking a wholly appropriate attitude for a warship, it just rolls off the tongue nicely (I think). > > Back when I was a kid I had a plastic model kit of the Original Series-era _Enterprise_. The kit came with lots of decals to make other ships in Starfleet, and I always intended to build _Intrepid_. Never did get around to finishing it. That’s the name I came in to say. The original was an actual navy ship long before Star Trek. An aircraft carrier that served from WWII though Vietnam, she is now a floting naval museum in NYC. Actually there were probably Intrepids before her… the name has a British ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/102 "2009-09-25T23:21:45Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Actually there were probably Intrepids before her… the name has a British ring to it. The first [USS _Intrepid_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Intrepid_%281798%29) was a vessel captured during the campaign against the Barbary Pirates. She was the ship used to burn the USS _Philapelphia_ after that frigate had been run aground and been captured. Later she was converted to a bomb vessel, and lost in an attempt to destroy the rest of the Tripolitan fleet in harbor. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/103 "2009-09-26T00:06:17Z")
According to Wiki, the first [HMS Intrepid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Intrepid) was a renamed captured French vessel (the Serieux) from 1747. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/104 "2009-09-26T02:12:13Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > a renamed captured French vessel (the Serieux) from 1747. There were a lot of those. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/105 "2009-09-26T02:33:48Z")
For me it is the old Spanish ship that was captured by the buccaneer Sir Francis Drake: the _Nuestra Señora de la Concepción_, better known in history as the _Cagafuego_ (or Cacafuego). Literally: the **"FireShitter**" or “ShitFirer”!! ---
**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:** [September 26, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/106 "2009-09-26T02:46:13Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Literally: the **"FireShitter**" or “ShitFirer”!! HIs Most Holy Catholic Majesty’s Navy would give that name to a ship? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/107 "2009-09-26T03:11:24Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > HIs Most Holy Catholic Majesty’s Navy would give that name to a ship? It was the nickname the Spanish sailors had given to the ship. It was so famous that the original name is usually not mentioned when the history is told. > **[Internet History Sourcebooks: Modern History](https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1580pretty-drake.asp)** > [@](#): > > To Lima we came the 13. of February; and, being entered the haven, we found there about twelve sail of ships lying fast moored at an anchor, having all their sails carried on shore; for the masters and merchants were here most secure, having never been assaulted by enemies, and at this time feared the approach of none such as we were. Our General rifled these ships, and found in one of them as chest full of reals of plate, and good store of silks and linen cloth; and took the chest into his own ship, and good store of the silks and linen. In which ship he had news of another ship called the Cacafuego,10 which was gone towards Payta, and that the same ship was laden with treasure. Whereupon we stayed no longer here, but, cutting all the cables of the ships in the haven, we let them drive whither they would, either to sea or to the shore; and with all speed we followed the Cacafuego toward Payta, thinking there to have found her. Even in Spanish sites, the most famous nickname is still mentioned: > **[Captura del Jabeque-Fragata español Cacafuego](http://hmssurprise28.blogspot.com/2007/11/captura-del-jabeque-fragata-espaol.html)** > > Al volver a cubierta, pudo comprobarlo: el navío avistado era, en efecto, el Cacafuego. Éste había cambiado su rumbo para encontrarse con la... ---
**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:** [September 26, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/108 "2009-09-26T03:24:06Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > It was the nickname the Spanish sailors had given to the ship. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/109 "2009-09-30T02:46:56Z")
USS _Voyager_ (from the ST series of the same name) was an _Intrepid_-class starship: [Intrepid class | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Intrepid_class). I’ll second those who’ve already voted for USS _Carondelet_, USS _Monitor_ and USS _Constitution_. I’d add USS _Lexington_, USS _Saratoga_, USS _Amphitrite_, USS _Yorktown_, USS _Gettysburg_ and USS _Kearsarge_, each of which have a lot of great history behind them. HMS _Endeavour_, HMS _Discovery_ (both honored by U.S. space shuttles), HMS _Agincourt_ and HMS _Trafalgar_ have some particularly good mental associations, as does HMY _Britannia_. The _Pillar of Autumn_ was the starship from the videogame _Halo_; I always thought that was a cool name. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/110 "2009-09-30T04:22:18Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The _Pillar of Autumn_ was the starship from the videogame _Halo_; I always thought that was a cool name. Damn you. We get to three pages and no one had mentioned it yet, and I was all like “yeah, I get to do it!” and then you did it. You stole my moment, you bastard! 😛 But another good name from Halo is the “Truth and Reconciliation.” ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/111 "2009-09-30T04:52:11Z")
Always felt the RNoN had some good ones. Of course, I might be biased. HNoMS Skjold (“Shield”) HNoMS Skudd (“Shot”) HNoMS Steil (“Stubborn”) HNoMS Gnist (“Spark”) HNoMS Valkyrien (“Valkyre”) HNoMS Tyr (Tyr - the Norse God of War) The Germans also have had some good ones, like the Blücher and the Bismarck. And Sweden has had some truly unforgettable ones - HMS Tapperheten (“The Bravery”) **HMS Mannligheten (“The Manliness”)** 'Course, I’ve got some British favourites as well - HMS Black Prince HMS Zealous HMS Monarch HMS Swiftsure HMS Inflexible ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/112 "2009-09-30T05:16:11Z")
I always thought _Blucher_ sounded like someone with gas. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/113 "2009-09-30T13:42:04Z")
I’m adding my vote to **HMS Iron Duke** , too - our friends son is a gunner on board, and every time someone uploads a video of _Iron Duke_ blowing holes in a drug-running boat, I imagine him having a great time. And **Thunderchild** , too 😉 Si ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218/114 "2009-09-30T13:55:33Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > I think that HMS _Thor_ is a good name for a warship, though I doubt that The Thunderer would have been pleased to be named for an ambush hunter. An HMS _Thunderer_ fought at Trafalgar. I do like that name and have used it for ships I’ve built in computer games. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-warship-name/511218.md?page=5)