The name of the ships and its historical meaning

In shipbuilding, each newly born ship gets its name. The name of the ships reflects the customs and tastes, history, political and state structure of a certain epoch of mankind.

Even those who have never been interested in the issue of names, are familiar with the legendary names from fairy tales, myths, ancient tales. The famous Sadko ship "Falcon", the ship of the pharaohs "Appearance in Memphis", the Vikings - "Big Bison" or the mythical ship "Argo".

If the great masters of the past endowed their first creatures with the qualities of animals (for example, the predators drawn in the nose of the corps of the predator helped to better visualize the danger in the sea), the great seafarers of the XV-XVII centuries chose the name of the ships in the spirit of the Middle Ages. They carried the names of holy or revered religious holidays. San Gabriel, San Rafael (Portugal), San Cristobal, Sancti Espiritu (Spain), Santa Maria de la Victoria, Sancti Espiritu. Or the famous "Victoria" from the fleet of Fernando Magellan - the only surviving ship as a result of a tragic voyage to Spain.

Traditions that define the name of ships in Russia, have their roots in the reign of Peter I. Even then, the principles of assigning names began to be formed: they must correspond to the class, purpose, technological and combat qualities. The awarding of the nomination to the ship was in the competence of only the head of state. Attributed to the historical and heroic names. The name of the sea vessel reflected the political structure of the state, its achievements and victories, ideology, the mores of the ruling circles. But besides this, the name should reflect the prestige of the state both in the eyes of other states, and among its own inhabitants. Every member of his native country should feel proud for his ship, for his country.

But in the beginning, during the formation of the Azov fleet, when there were no special combat achievements, the names were taken from the concepts of the Orthodox Church: "Christmas", "Transfiguration of the Lord." The subsequent names of the sailing ships were morale: "Color of War", "Fearlessness", "Lion", "Hercules", "Fortress", "Flag" and "Scorpion". Bombardier ships of the times of Peter I wore no less sonorous names: "Thunder", "Thunderbow", "Lightning", "Bomb".

In the days of the creation of the Baltic Fleet there are names in honor of the royal dynasties: "Princess Anna", "Princess Elizabeth", "Natalia". A special feature in this period was the continuity of names. The name of the ships that served their service passed to new ships.

With changes in the types and classes of ships, names have also changed. They began to acquire symbolic names of birds and animals, natural phenomena, fairy-tale heroes: "Hurricane", "Veshchun", "Ilya Muromets", "Mermaid", "Smerch".

When the Black Sea Fleet was created, they returned to the tradition of giving prestigious names: "Catherine II", "Twelve Apostles", "George Pobedonosets", "Rostislav". The first destroyer was called the quite accurate name "Explosion" (1877).

At the beginning of the 20th century, during the Russo-Japanese War, the selflessness of the sailors was reflected in the names of warships. They returned the spirit of patriotism and faith in military historical traditions: Sevastopol, Petropavlovsk, Empress Catherine II.

Since the beginning of the October Revolution and in all subsequent Soviet years, significant changes have taken place in the way of assigning names to ships and ships. All the usual names related to the Orthodox Church or the royal dynasty disappeared. All the names were replaced by words or a set of words related to the revolution and the party: "Citizen", "Democracy", "Red October", "Leninets", "Stalinets", "Soviet Ukraine". The main problem of these names was the frequent change of political leaders. Names, trying to convey the spirit of patriotism, lost their historical destiny.

In the postwar years, again began to return to the old traditions. There were names dedicated to the heroes of the war, the famous commanders, the great cities: Varyag, Stoyky, Alexander Suvorov, Admiral Makarov, Moscow.

It is very important, considering the name of the ships, to be guided by common sense and historical feeling. This will save us from the faceless, meaningless and dirty names of the Navy.

In our time this issue is given considerable importance. Karonimika - a science that studies the names of ships and ships - pays special attention to the stages of development of the emergence of certain names, structure, traditions. It helps to avoid mistakes when making new names for new ships.