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Cherubs and Fairies
Jan. 20th, 2011 11:26 amSeriously, sometimes you have to wonder what the Royal Navy were up to when it came to naming their ships.
At one end of the scale, I have always wondered about the audacity (or foolhardiness?) of men who would sail into the uncharted wastes of the Arctic in ships call Erebus and Terror. Erebus in Greek mythology being the personification of darkness and son of Chaos.
At the other end of the scale, who in their right mind decided to call a ship of war the Cherub? A very successful ship of war she was though, with a famously loyal and dedicated crew. The Cherub is perhaps best known as the consort of HMS Phoebe. Both ships were despatched to the Americas in 1813 to track down and apprehend the frigate USS Essex which was wreaking havoc among British merchant vessels on the coast of Chile. The mission was eventually successful and the Essex run on shore and destroyed, though her captain David Porter later accused the captains of the British ships of dishonourable conduct.
Then yesterday when reading Edward Osler's Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth I came across a sloop of war called the Fairy. Turns out that the RN had no less than four small ships named Fairy between 1778 and 1840.
You know that scene in Retribution where Bush is rallying the sailors and marines during the assault on the fort in Samana Bay and he's bellowing "Renown's to me!!" It's not really going to have quite the same effect if your ship's called the Fairy or the Cherub is it?!
Really, you've got to love these guys :)
At one end of the scale, I have always wondered about the audacity (or foolhardiness?) of men who would sail into the uncharted wastes of the Arctic in ships call Erebus and Terror. Erebus in Greek mythology being the personification of darkness and son of Chaos.
At the other end of the scale, who in their right mind decided to call a ship of war the Cherub? A very successful ship of war she was though, with a famously loyal and dedicated crew. The Cherub is perhaps best known as the consort of HMS Phoebe. Both ships were despatched to the Americas in 1813 to track down and apprehend the frigate USS Essex which was wreaking havoc among British merchant vessels on the coast of Chile. The mission was eventually successful and the Essex run on shore and destroyed, though her captain David Porter later accused the captains of the British ships of dishonourable conduct.
Then yesterday when reading Edward Osler's Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth I came across a sloop of war called the Fairy. Turns out that the RN had no less than four small ships named Fairy between 1778 and 1840.
You know that scene in Retribution where Bush is rallying the sailors and marines during the assault on the fort in Samana Bay and he's bellowing "Renown's to me!!" It's not really going to have quite the same effect if your ship's called the Fairy or the Cherub is it?!
Really, you've got to love these guys :)
