New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-06
NAMES FOR NAVAL VESSELS.
UNCLE SANS SHIPS DECORATED CHIEF.
LY WITH GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS.
MONITORS AND TORPEDO BOATS EXCEPTIONS TO
THE RULE-THE OLD WOODEN SHIPS
STILL IN SERVICE.

THE RULE-THE OLD WOODEN SHIPS
STILL IN SERVICE.
The nomenclature of the vessels of the United
States Navy is deficient in names made famous
by acts Of naval heroism. but abounds IN geo.
graphical terms. which make a list OF Uncle
Sans ships res ,nlble an extract from postal
guide There Ia a class Of vessels In the eng
llsh Navy known AZ the admiral" class where
the names Of Nelson. Arson. Rodney. Benbow
and other naval leaders may be found, and this
same method Of perpetuating the names OF adj
mirals exists in Russia The custom OF pre-
serving the names Of victories at sea Is also OBJ
served in many countries by naming vessels
after the place near which the fight occurred
But in the United States Navy these customs
cannot be carried out. and although Tie name
Of Farragut is honored and revered by the Navy
no large ship of any class bears the name OF the
hero of Mobile Bay
In the torpedo ooat class there are excep-
tons to this rule, and the fleet contains an
Ericsson. Cushing Porter. Foote, DAM
gren, Dupont, a Goldsborough and others.
The single-turreted monitors bear Indian
names, such Comanche, Catsklll. Canoncus
Mahopac Montauk Wyandotte, but not to the
exclusion of other names. for the list includes
the names of Ajax and Manhattan. In the old
and Marion are still preserved. along with
Yantic Alert and Nipsic. The Indian name Is
also represented in this class by several vessels
among which ara the Mohican. the Monocacy
and the Omaha.
The dOuble-turreted monitors have names
which are to be found nowhere in ship nomen-
ciature except in the United States Navy.
Among them are the Amphitrite. the Mantono-
mob and the Monadnock. The Vfcksburg and
the Annapolis are composite g,Inboats. and are
named after places where Important military
operations took place. No set rule seems to OBJ
tain for the naming OF gunboats. The list In
ciudes the Petrol the Machas. the Nashville.
the Helena, the Concord. the Bancroft and the
Bennington The armored cruisers. ike tho
New-York and the Brooklyn. are named after
cities as are the protected cruisers. such as the
Atlanta the Baltimore the Charleston, the Chi
cago the Cincinnati, the Columbia. the Newark
the Raleigh and the San Francisco although
the Olympia is also of that class. The armored
battle ships. OF which the Maine was good
specimen are all named after States. except the
Kearsarge. which by special act OF Congress
was named to perpetuate The old ship when
had won distinction in the famous hght with
tba Alabama before the days Of the steel battle
ship.
The old wooden navy Is fliue tP ~ 'iic '''
able invallds all put away in comfortable quar-
ta-s The Constitution is the training snip at
Newport: the Vermont is used as a receiving
ship in the Brooklyn Navy Yard; the Dale IS
used by the Maryland Naval Reserve; the lnde-
pendence is the receiving ship at Mare Island
and the jamestown is a quarantine snip. Inc
Monongahela is attached to the training squad
ron the New Hampshire is the headquarters Oh
the New-York Naval Reserve. and the saratoga
is a nautical school ship.
The man whose name Is the same rs that vi
some city may. if he becomes naVal nero see
a United States ship bear his name but unless
that combination exists 1t H. doubtful if even
heroism would adj the name Of an indiViuua'
to the list Of United states warships