Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-12
NAMES OF NAVAL VESSELS
Regarded as Unlucky to Take Those Of
Venomous Things.

From the New York Tribune.
Man-o'-w arsmen have strange preju-
dice, not to say antipathy, against naming
vessels after reptiles and singing things
and the absence of such names in the no.
menclature of vessels of the American navy
suggests that the superstition among sailor
men has had attention. There are only
three vessels of the American navy bearing
the names of venomous thngs-the Adder
the Moccasin and the Scorpion. The first
and second of these almost became total
wrecks by stranding nearthe South Curri-
TUCK life saving station in November last
Dut the Adder got off almost at once and
the Moccasin was f1oated only a few days
ago. Following so soon after the loss of
the Cobra and the Viper, torpedo boats OF
the English navy, 1t has strengthened the
peAet among sailors that vessels so named
are sure to be unlucky Some have at
tempted to show that the Moccasin bears
an Indian name, but the majority insist
that she was named after the poisonous
snake which is to be found in the southern
part of the United States, and that such a
name is suitable to the character of a tor
pedo vessel The Adder is also a torpedo
BOAT. but the Scorpion is one of the yachts
purchased in the time of the Spanish war
and converted into a gunboat
If one should be so bold as to chara cterize
the superstitious sailor as silly he would
at once declare that there is sufficient rea-
son LOT MS belief, and would proceed to
prove that war vessels named after stiucIne
ana Venomous things have been unlucky
ana that the country should not be so in
different to the men who follow "a life on
the ocean wave" to organize mos
quito fleet. That Snake is regarded as an
unfortunate name for a vessel is shown by
the fact that two of that name have been
lost. in 1871 nd he 9TH ~
no vessel bearing that name Is known to
exist now. Serpent, which Is only a substi-
tute name for snake, is an unlucky one
also, Tor the one wrecked in 1892 was the
fourth British war vessel of that name to
meet the same fate. Viper has been an
unlucky name in the British navy The
| first one was wrecked In 1880 but the ad-
miralty would not swerve and so IT kent
the name on the list, each vessel meeting
Its doom, and the fourth was lost only re-
Gently. The French navy has also been
unlucky with vessels SO named The Where
used in the British service after she be-
came a prize from the French was lost in
1I93. The second was lost a year later the
third in 1897, and the fourth was recently
lost in collision off Guernsey
The Cobra, another British war vessel
was lost recently, at the same time as the
viper. Among other vessels similarly
named and which met fates other than In
battle are the Rattlesnake, in 1871: the
Alligator, in 1882 the Crocodile, in 1874:
the Adder, in 1916; three Lizards two
Dragons and one Basilisk All of these
were of the British navy. The list could
be made larger by citing the records of
other navies. The Norsemen who were so
fond of naming their vessels against the
laws of superstition, and using hideous
heads of dragons and reptiles on their high
proWs, were less unfortunate, and these
dld not meet with frequent disasters They
did have a belief, however, that it was I'M
lucky and a sacrilege to select such a name
as did Lord Dunraven for his first yacht ia
challenge for the Americas Cup, the Val
kyrie And this belief was strengthened
| when she was sunk by the Satanita. The
second challenger. with the same name.
gave trouble, and she was cut to pieces
after after only short existence