The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-11-27
NAMING OF OCEAN LINERS.
"Fnmily" Applications Distinguish.
ing the various Fleets.

probably to most people, has been pur-
sued by the managers of ocean steam
ship companies is one that insures for
the ships of the different lines distinc-
tive, or what may be called family.
names-names intended to suggest at
once the particular line to which this
or that steamship or group of steam
ships belongs.
AS may readily be seen, names Sc
lected at random and applied indis-
criminately to ocean liners would be
likely to prove extremely confusing to
the casual student of marine nomen-
clature seeking to determine the ships
Identity at sea. To avoid the perplex-
ity of such a selection the steamship
companies have adopted what must be
called an ingenious plan. BY adhering
strictly to certain prefixes or sufflxes
originally hit upon in naming their
ships, most of the companies have de-
Veloped a series of names whose sig
nit1cance can scarcely be mistaken
even by the veriest landlubber. No
matter what flag a ship flies or what
its physical characteristics may be. by
its name one may know in what fleet
it sails.
Attention has been drawn to this
system by the transfer, to take place
and on-Mediterranean services of
the Dominion Line to the White Star
Line. With the proposed change in
management the Commonwealth will
become the Canopic, the recently
launched Columbus will become the
Republic, the New England the Ro-
manic. and the Mayflower the Cretic.
In other words. the two final letters,
'ic,' in each OF the adopted names will
appear throughout the entire fleet.
At first, no doubt, this change of
appellation will seem strange and
mystifying. People who, for exam
pie, have been accustomed to associate
in their minds the steamship New
England with the hills and dales of
the picturesque region for which the
Romantic to-be was first called will
very likely find the old name clinging
to their lips for months to come. Co
lumbus, likewise, which thousands in
Identifying that ship have linked with
the name of the ancient discoverer,
will probably remain impressed on the
seafarer's memory long after the
steamship Columbus becomes the Re-
public. But in much the same way as
one learns to call the former Miss
Jones Mrs. Galloway, he will be able
to grasp the new order of things in
the maritime sphere.
On some railroads the locomotives
bear names as well as numbers, but
on most systems these iron steeds
are obviously too numerous to render
this means of identification of much
value there. With reference to steam
ships the case is different. Although
the fleets of many of the coaStwiSe
and transatlantic lines are large, they
are by no means large enough, or like
H., - Snfe Luz in CT ~
exhaust the vocabulary required by
this, modern arrangement
People familiar with the arrange
ment of colors adjoining the ships
smokestack or with the flag on her
mainmast are able by day to tell in
stantly whether the vessel is a White
Star liner, a Cunarder, or some other
craft. They know that black fun
mel, with a white band, denotes in
variably an American liner; that a
red swallow-tail flag marked by sin
gle white star, characterizes a MEM
Der of the White Star fleet by day,
while two green lights displayed sim
ultaneously distinguish the ships of
that company from all others at night.
Why, therefore, should not the names of
the different vessels of a given COM
pany be as distinctive and uniform as
their established signals or as their
uniformly painted smokestacks?
When what has become known as
the White Star Line was formed it was
called the Oceanic Steam Navigation
Company, probably because OF the fact
that its vessels were to ply on any
ocean where duty might call them, and
its first ships were called, very natu-
rally. the Pacific, the Baltic, and the
Adriatic. Now to this list is to be add
ed the Republic-a name selected in
honor of the United States. Since the
naming of the first Celtic-for there is
now a. second Celtic-every vessel of
the White Star Line has been given
title ending in that one clicking little
SYLLABLE &c" and wherever one sees
liner or a cargo steamship having that
termination he may know to what spe-
cial division of the international mer-
camille marine it belongs.
The American Line follows the Gus
tom of naming its ships in honor of
the principal American cities, as in the
case of the st. Paul and the st. Louis,
which, since their notable service in
the Spanish war have become the New
York and the Philadelphia.
The Inman Line, which preceded the
American Line, followed the practice
of giving to it's vessels the names of
important cities on both sides of the
water. In the case of the Cunard Com
DanY the IlTldI Id belhCo bhC PioSO VI
the White Star lines &c"
Usually the name chosen for the first
shin of a given line has suggested a
name for it's successors. Years ago,
when the Atlantic Transport Company
opened a service from Baltimore to
London. its first vessel was the Mary
land. SO named in honor of the native
state of the companys promoters. Sub
seouently the Maryland's sister ships
were named after states in the Union
which commence with M The num-
her of states whose names begin with
that letter was, however, too small to
meet the demands, and the godparents
Of the newer steamships had to look
elsewhere To-day the largest ships of
the Atlantic Transport Line, the 1900
ton monsters plying between New York
and London, are the Mlnnehaha, Min
netonka and the Minneapolis.
The vessels of the Red Star Line,
another of the great Atlantic compa-
MES which has lately combined with
the White Star, American, Dominion,
and Leyland lines to form the Inter-
national Mercantile Marine Company,
are distinguishabIe by the final sylla-
BILE in their names. one or the ear
lier Red Star liners, which formerly
sailed under the Belgian flag was the
Relgenland. In the Noordland and
the Westernland it will be seen that
the final land" again made its APP
pearance, and II has been further re-
tanned in the names of the two Amer
ican-built ships, of comparatively re-
cent construction, the Finland and
Kroonland.
IN the names of the half hundred
,yasesls NJ the Ieyland Line the Anal