Ship names and origins

[Bugbear]

I've finally come up with a name for my Boa - "The Quantum Pelican"

Why the pelican? Well, being raised on a human planet, I was taken on holidays to places where there were lots of them, so they have always held a special place in my memory.

But it got me thinking, this ship name is a good way to screw with the minds of my quarry. Call it a piece of psychological camouflage - who is going to treat a ship called the 'Pelican' as a serious threat. Even better, how stupid is an enemy pilot going to feel when they suddenly think "Oh no! My ship is being taken to pieces by a ... pelican??? WTF?"

One thing I'm curious about though, how have all my fellow commanders come up with their ship names?

[drew]

It's when you're shot down by the Dubious Profit you've really got to question your mental health...

Cheers,

Drew.

[Thargoid]

Did someone install Iain_M_Banks-Culture.oxp whilst I was asleep?

[Capt. Murphy]

Did someone install Iain_M_Banks-Culture.oxp whilst I was asleep?

That would be fun.

My ship is rather predictably named Murphy's Law. The question any NPC who tangles with it needs to ask is where will Murphy's Law strike - on them or me.

[SandJ]

But it got me thinking, this ship name is a good way to screw with the minds of my quarry.

I never thought of that as a factor in naming a ship.

Something like "The Jolly Rogering"?

[Thargoid]

I think that's a different sort of ship...

[Smivs]

My ship is named the Bilbo Maru. There is a tradition in Japan of naming ships with the Maru suffix, after Hakudo Maru, a celestial being in Japanese mythology who is said to have come to Earth 5000 years ago and taught humans how to build ships. The name is thought to infer good luck.
Maru is also a popular name for pets, particularly Cats, and the our ship's cat is named Bilbo.
There is a small decal of Bilbo on the ship's flanks.

[Cody]

My Cobra MkIII is named for the Native American shaman Rolling Thunder, a Cherokee who married into the Shoshone tribe… he was a remarkable man in many ways.

[Ganelon]

My Cobra MKIII is "The Storm" after a Blue Oyster Cult song, "I Am The Storm". It just fit my mood and outlook at the time.

Lightning bolts become my swords
When I draw them from the sky
Run my gauntlet of slashing rain
You won't live to testify..

When you see the clouds blacken
Remember you've been warned
No shelter from my fierce winds
Because, I am the storm

I listened to it a lot when playing back then, and it went with the whole "no quarter asked or given" bounty hunter sort of attitude.

"Carver's ship" is a Griff Boa prototype and got the name "Lady of Fortune" from a bit of artwork I found (it was creative commons) and adapted to my purposes. Originally I was thinking of using it as "cover art" for Carver's Anarchy, but after colouring it out, felt it looked more like ship art. I couldn't ever figure out how to get it to display well on the Griff Boa, though, so I ended up using a simple Jolly Roger I scribbled up and kludged in. But the planned ship art was basically a pirate lass holding up a Jolly Roger alongside the words "Lady of Fortune" and I kept the name.

Simple enough stuff, and nowhere near the "WTF??" factor of "Pelican". LOL

Now, as regards the "Dubious Profit", just the other day I noted the fine print on my insOorance policy mentions that it will NOT cover damages resulting from "being within 10 km in open space or parking within 5 berths of the said ship, Dubious Profit, due to parts falling off, things exploding, the leaking of fluids of unknown and unsavoury nature, or other 'Acts of Giles' likely to occur in near vicinity to said ship..."

[ADCK]

I never really name the ships I play with. If I were to, I'd give them a silly name like one of the following:

Triumph
Cucumber
ADCK's Super Happy Fun Ship
The Spruce Moose
Baka Ketsu
Fantabulous

Etc.

[Staer9]

My Xeikil MKII is rather un-creatively named 'Fangs', if you see a screenshot it is quite clear why...

[DaddyHoggy]

Like the Short Story of the same name, I called my first Cobra MkIII, Lazarus, simply because in my early career, I kept having to raise myself from the dead...

[Mauiby de Fug]

My Caddy is called Taliesin, mainly because at the time I was indulging in a bit of Welsh nostalgia.

[Cody]

Taliesin was an interesting board game, as well.

[DaddyHoggy]

Taliesin was an interesting board game, as well.

It was indeed. The number of commonalities in our past EV, never ceases to amaze me...