NAVY NAMES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 April 1938, Page 7

NAVY NAMES

MANY CENTURIES OLD KEEPING TRADITION ALIVE LONDON, March 5. The British Navy keeps tradition alive, particularly in warship names, many of which are centuries old. A striking example is the Ark Royal, the great new aircraft-carrier which will be ready for service in the summer. She had a namesake in the fleet which opposed the Spanish Armada. The original Ark Royal, a vessel of 800 tons launched in 1587, was Lord Howard of Effingham's flagship.

Lord Howard recorded his admiration for her. He thought her “the best ship in the world for all conditions. We can see no sail, great or small, but how far soever they be off, we fetch them and speak with them.” She was the flagship at the sacking of Cadiz in 1596 and was renamed the Anne Royal when she was rebuilt in 1608. The name was revived by Mr Winston Churchill in 1914 for the first ship specially built to carry seaplanes. The war-time Ark Royal served at the Dardanelles and elsewhere. She is now known as Pegasus, one of the many shrip names introduced from Greek mythology about 1776. The name Pegasus has been borne by five vessels of the Royal Navy. The fourth, a light cruiser launched in 1897, was destroyed at Zanzibar by the German cruiser Konisberg in 1914. One wonders what Lord Howard, pacing the quarter-deck of £5OOO Ark Royal would think of the new £3,000.000 floating aerodrome, 685 feet in length, and her accommodation for about 70 aircraft.

Royal Sovereign is another honoured name in the Navy. The present 29,150ton battleship is the tenth to bear the name since 1485. Nelson's Victory was the eleventh since 1560, and no other ship is likely to bear the name. Carefully preserved she still flies the flag of the Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth. Rodney, the fourth since 1781, takes her name from Admiral Lord Rodney, who gained a famous victory in 1782 off Dominica over the French (fleet.