Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-24
NAMING WAR VESSELS
Superstition and Bad Luck Have
Much Influence in the Navy.
Two UNLUCKY SHIF
Why the Chesapeake and Somers
Should Be Rechristened.
NAMES TO CONJURE WITH

Written for The Evening Star by S.G.W Benjamin
The efficient Department of the Navy has
| recently displayed a disposition to adopt a
| nc mencature for our ships of war which,
| if continued, will result in hoodooing con-
| siderable part of our navy. Every one
| knows what are the usual results of giving
a ship bad name. Few, even of the most
| educated, who have boxed the compass on
blue water but will admit that there are
| some superstitions and prejudices often
| suggested by reverent if imperfect glimmer
| of the mysterious laws of destiny. which
it is neither prudent nor sensible to
defy, and one of them is in the matter OF
| giving a ship unlucky name as well as
earning bad name If nautical supersti-
tions seem absurd sometimes, on the other
/ hand they may prove useful and should not
| hastily be ignored or treated with disre-
| spect. The morale of the crews may be
stimulated by the belief in the good luck,
| the good name, of a ship, as well as by the
| prestige of lucky commander.
| Two Unlucky Names.
Two of our new vessels have been named
! Chesapeake and Somers, for no good and
sufficient reason that is apparent, for those
| names are suggestive of some of the few
| disgraceful or unfortunate events in our
| naval history-events that we wish to for
| get, or, if remembered, to employ them as
| examples of what is to be avoided. the
| frigate Chesapeake was the scene, in June,
| 1907 of one Of the most notifying incidents
| in our records; it was aggravated by the
| fact that with proper discipline it might
| have been avoided mitigated. When she
was lying at Washington the previous
| spring the English minister demanded three
| of her crew, who were alleged to be desert
| ers from the British frigate Melampus. The
| proof being insufficient, our government de-
| clined to give them up. When the Chesa-
| peake finally put to sea from Hampton
| Roads, bearing the broad pennant of Capt
| James Barron, she was hailed by the Brit
| ish fifty-gun ship Leopard that was waiting
| for her. The boat from the latter brought
an order from Vice Admiral Berkeley COM
| manding all captains in his squadron to
| search the Chesapeake for deserters wher-
| ever she be found on the high seas. rms
arrogant demand was made without even
giving our government notice OF such IN
tention.
| Chesapeake in DepIorabie Condition
Now, the Chesapeake happened at this
particular crisis to be in a condition very
uncommon for an American ship-of-war
| at sea, either then or since. Her decks were
| Uttered with chicken coops, provisions, per-
sonal baggage and the like, and even the
ammunition and all means for going into
action were in confusion. Thus, When the
American commander at the same time de-
clined to heaye to and gave orders to clear
for action the one order proved as useless
| as the other. The English for fifteen min
utes emptied their batteries into our snip
killing and manning twenty-one men ana
manning hull and rigging, While only one
| shot was returned from the chesapeake;
That was fired by Mr.. Cassn, distinguished
| later at Lake Champlain, who brought
| live coal from the galley in his fingers. OF
course, the matter ended by the seizure or
the ship and carrying off the three men
| that the authorities at Washington mad de-
la, lnlS,- he
been in a proper state of discipline when
she put to sea she might at least have de-
Tended the honor of the flag. even IL finally
obliged to yield to superior force capt
Barron was convicted On this count by
court-martial and suspended from service
for five years without pay. A trag1cal event
growing out of this disaster was the duei
between Barron and Decatur, in which the
latter one of the most brilliant officers in
our service, lost his life and our country an
invaluable officer.
Subsequently IN the war of 1912 the Ches-
apeake made e long cruise of four months,
during which she captured only five incon-
siderable merchantmen, while our otnef
ships were returning loaded with prize
money On entering Boston harbor she
also carried away topmast, and all the
men aloft on it were drowned. These incl
dents settled her record an unlucky ship
and made it difficult to secure crews and
officers for her. Her captain had lost the
use of his eyesight on the cruise, and Cap
tain Lawrence, who was appointed in his
place, accepted the position with very great
reluctance. He Shrank from linking MS
fortunes with i'll luck.
How the Chesapeake Was Captured.
On Tuesday, June l. 1918, the Chesapeake
again put to sea, with the expectation of
meeting the Shannon, a crack British
frigate in first-rate condition, carrying two
guns more than the Chesapeake and her
crew drilled to the last point of discipline
in order to be able to turn the tide of i'll
fortune that the English had been meeting
in their encounters with American frigates
Again the Chesapeake was found in
condition similar to that in which she met
the Leopard. She had been sent off on
hurry ORDERS" her crew was raw, all sorts
of recruits had been sent aboard, the tried
old sailors steering clear of her If she
were pest house. half the men were drunk,
the officers were young, untried or new to
the ship (every sailor knows what this
means) and in this condition the Chesa-
peake, the unlucky ship of the United
States navy. was expectedsto meet the
Shannon, the "show" frigate of the British
navy. The result was what every one eX-
pected. OF course Captain Lawrence and
some Of his officers and men exhibited the
superb courage expected Of the American
sailor, but the fight was. after all, only one
way. The slaughter was greater than on
any American ship since the fight Of the
Bonhomme Richard. Lawrence was killed
and the Chesapeake was towed to Halifax
and eventually taken to England, where
she was sold to John Prior, and her tim
bers used to build flour mill. The bat
tie of the Shannon and Chesapeake has
also been about the only naval incident of
the war of 1872 which English historians
have recorded, and 1t has served in this
way for ages to fire the British heart and
taunt the assumed liability and weakness
of American seamanship. In the name Of
all the gods. with the exception of the
herosm Of the Inflated Lawrence and some
of his crew, what is there in the record of
the Chesapeake that our Navy Department
desires to perpetuate by bestowing her
name on one of the ships of our new navy?
HObson's Predecessor.
Nor can much more be said in perpetu-
ating the name of Somers In our navy, II
luck is to be considered one Of the factors
OF naval nomenclature. Master Command
ant Richard Somers Of Egg Harbor, N. j.,
was gallant officer who had distinguished
himself in the operations against the Bar
barry states. He was selected to command
the ketch Intrepid, that was prepared to be
sent into Tripon as a floating mine to blow
up the shipping in that port. 1t was a most
hazardous enterprise; so hazardous as
hardly to be warranted by the possibilities
of success With Somers was Midshipman