The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-15
NAMES FOR NAVAL VESSELS.
Uncle SANS ships Decorated Chief
Iy With Geographical Terms.
Fsom the New York Tribune.

rom the New York Tribune.
The nomenclature of the vessels of the
United States navy is deficient in names
made famous by acts of naval heroism. but
abounds in geographical terms. which
make a list of Uncle Sans ships resemble
an extract from postal guide There is
a class of vessels in the English navy
known as 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 admirals exists in Russia. The
custom of preserving the names of vic
tories at sea is also observed 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 the 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-boat class there are ex-
ceptions to this rule, and the fleet contains
an Ericsson, a Gushing, a Porter, "a Foote
q Dahlgren, Dupont, a Goldsborough and
others.
The single-turreted monitors bear Indian
names, such as Comauche, Catskil, Can
cnicus, Mahopac, Montauk, Wyandotte but
not to the exclusion Of other names, for
the list includes the names of Ajax and
Manhattan. In the old wooden navy the
names of Franklin, Adams and Marion are
still preserved, along with Yantic, Alert
and NEpsic. The Indian name is also repre-
scented in this class by several vessels,
among which are the Mohican, the Mono
cacy and the. Omaha.
The 1O1lbie-tl1rretod F4aopi+ny4s bova =, ,,,aS
which are to be found nowhere in ship
nomenclature except in the United States
navy. Among them are the Amphitrite, the
Miantonomoh and the Monadnock The
Nicksburg and the Annapolis are eompos
ite gunboats and are named after places
where important military operations took
place. No set rule seems to obtain for the
naming of gunboats. The list includes the
. Petrol. the Machias the Nashville, the
Helena, the Concord, the Bancroft and the
Bennington The armored cruisers, like
the New York and the Brooklyn, are nam
ed after cities as are the protected cruis-
ers, such as the Atlanta the Baltimore.
the Charleston, the Chicago, the Cincinnati,
the Columbia, the Newark che Raleigh
and the San Francisco, although the
OLYMPIA is also of that class. The armored
battle ships, of which the Maine was a
good Specimen, arg all named after states,
of Congress was named TO perpetuate the
old ship which had won distinction in the
famous fight with the Alabama before the
days of the steel battle ship.
The old wooden navy is made up of the
venerable invalids, all put away in com
Portable quarters. The Constitution is the
training ship at Newport; the Vermont is
used as a receiving ship In the Brooklyn
navy yard; the Dale is used by the Mary
land naval reserve; the independence is
The receiving ship at Mare Island, and the
jamestown is quarantine ship The Mo-
nongahela is attached to the training
squadron; the New Hampshire Is the head
quarters of the New York naval reserve.
and the Saratoga is a nautical school ship.
The man whose name IS the same as
that of some city may, II he becomes a
naval hero. see United States ship bear
his name, but unless that combination ex-
lists 1t Is doubtful If ever heroism would
add the names of an individual TO the list
of United States warships.