List of warships by nickname explained
The following is a list of warships listed by nickname. See below for a key to abbreviations.
A
B
- "Babe Lincoln" – USS Abraham Lincoln; reference to her 1995 deployment, the first Pacific based carrier deployment where there were female crew members.
- "Battle Cat" – USS Kitty Hawk[7]
- "Battle Schmoozer", "Belcrash" – USS Belknap; reference her collision with the USS Kennedy in 1975
- "Battle Barge" –
- "Battle Star" –
- "Big Ben" – USS Franklin;[8] the ship is named after Benjamin Franklin
- "Big D" – ; given to the boat to denote being named in honor of the city of Dallas.
- "The Big E" – (CV-6)[9] and USS Enterprise (CVN-65)[10]
- "The Big J" – USS New Jersey[11]
- "Big John" – USS John F. Kennedy[12]
- "Big Lizzie" – [4]
- "Big Mamie" – USS Massachusetts[13]
- "The Big Nasty" –
- "The Big Stick" – USS Theodore Roosevelt;[14] based on Theodore Roosevelt's quotation, "Speak softly and carry a big stick".[15] Also used for the during her third and final commissioning, c1980s Cold War. Iowa was nicknamed Mighty I during her first two commissionings in WWII and the Korean War.
- "Big Sugar" – USS Vermont
- "Big Gray Deuce" – USS Essex; humorous malapropism
- "Billy Ruffian" – HMS Bellerophon;[16] humorous mispronunciation
- "The Black Dragon" –
- "The Blue Ghost" – ; nickname supposedly bestowed by Japanese radio propagandist Tokyo Rose because of the color of her camouflage painting and because she repeatedly disproved reports that she had been sunk. Some crew used her predecessors nickname of "Lady Lex"[17]
- "Bonnie" – HMCS Bonaventure[18]
- "Bonnie Dick" – USS Bon Homme Richard CV/CVA-31 and USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)
- "Buckin' Bronco" – USS Colorado (BB-45)
- "Building (hull number)" – a U.S. Navy joke about ships that don't go to sea much.
- "Bulldog of the Navy" – USS Oregon (BB-3)
- "The Big Risk" – USS Oriskany (CV-34)
- "Bag Lady" – USS Bagley (FF-1069); humorous malaproprism
- "Berzerkly" – USS Berkeley (DDG-15); humorous malaproprism
- "Broke" – USS Brooke (FFG-1); humorous malaproprism
- "Brand X" – USS Mississippi (CGN-40); reference to being the "copy" Virginia-class cruiser homeported out of Norfolk, VA
C
- "C-ville" – USS Chancellorsville
- "Cannabis" – USS Canopus; humorous malapropism
- "Can o' Pus" – USS Canopus (1980s reference to first 20% female crew.)
- "Can Opener" – USS John F. Kennedy, after collision with USS Belknap
- "Century One" – HMS Centurion; humorous malapropism
- "Charlie Love Five Five" – USS Cleveland (CL-55), nickname refers to the ship's hull symbol, CL-55.
- "Cheer Up Ship" – USS Nevada (BB-36)
- "Chesapeake Raider" – USS Wyoming (BB-32), nickname given after frequent sightings of the ship in the Chesapeake Bay during World War Two.
- "Christmas Anthem" – HMS Chrysanthemum; humorous malapropism
- "Chuck Bucket" – USS Carl Vinson
- "Chuckie V" – USS Carl Vinson
- "Cocoa Boat" – HMS Curacoa; humorous malapropism
- "Connie" – USS Constellation; diminutive of ship's name
- "The Count" – USS Comte de Grasse; named for Comte de Grasse (French, "Count de Grasse"), an ally of the Americans in the American War of Independence
- "Curious" – [19]
- "Cellblock 70" – USS Carl Vinson; humorous reference to restricted liberty for crew after incidents in Bremerton, WA, in the mid-1980s.
D
- "Despair Ship Remorse" – HMS Resource;[6] humorous malapropism on "Repair ship Resource"
- "Decrepit" –
- "Dirty Cush" –
- "Dirty Two-Thirty" – HMCS Margaree (DDE 230) (decommissioned); from her hull number.
- "Dirty V" – USS Carl Vinson; humorous malapropism
- "Dreado" – HMS Dreadnought;[6] diminutive of ship's name
- "Dull Ass" – USS Dallas; humorous malapropism
- "Dickover" –
- "Dickey B" – USS Richard B. Russell (SSN-687)
- "Dry I" –
- "Dippity Do" –
E
- "Eggshells" – HMS Achilles; humorous malapropism
- "Enterprison" – USS Enterprise; humorous malapropism
- "Evil I" –
- "Exploder" – ; experimental & temperamental submarine fitted with dangerous hydrogen peroxide propulsion system.
F
- "The Fightingest Ship in the RCN" – HMCS Haida; gained this moniker by reason of sinking 14 enemy ships during patrols in the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay; she also sank more enemy surface tonnage than any other Canadian ship[20] [21]
- "The Fighting G" – HMS Gloucester
- "The Fighting J" – HMS Jamaica
- "The Fighting I" – USS Intrepid
- "The Fighting Lady" – USS Yorktown
- "The Fighting Sausage" – HMS Cumberland; from Cumberland sausage
- "Fighting Mary" – USS Maryland (BB-46)
- "Firestal" – USS Forrestal
- "The Five Mile Sniper" – HMAS Brisbane
- "Flatiron" – ; from the shape of the ship
- "Forrest Fire" "FID (First in Defense)" – USS Forrestal; humorous malapropism, also because of the fire on deck.
- "Foo-De-Roo" – USS Franklin D. Roosevelt
- "Fraser Blade" – HMCS Fraser
- "Freddy" – HMCS Fredericton
- "Fleet Starship" – USS Enterprise
- "The Furry Wet Mound" – USS Harry W. Hill (DD-986), humorous malapropism
G
H
- "The Ham" –
- "Happy Valley" – USS Valley Forge
- "Hairy D" – HMCS Harry DeWolf
- "He-Cat" – HMS Hecate; humorous malapropism
- "HMAS Can Opener" – ; given by US Navy sailors for the ship's part in the sinking of the US Navy destroyer . Melbourne previously sank another destroyer,, in a similar collision.
- "HMS Me" – ; from a cake presented to Elizabeth II during her first visit to the ship.[23]
- "HMS Refit" – ;
- "HMS Repair" – HMS Repulse
- "Hiroshima" – Soviet submarine K-19, due to a nuclear accident onboard
- "Hockey Puck" – ; humorous malapropism
- "Holiday Express" – USS Bunker Hill
- "Holiday Inn" – USS Bunker Hill
- "Horny Maru" – USS Hornet
- "HST" – USS Harry S. Truman; initials of the ship's namesake Harry S. Truman
- "Hairy Ass" – USS Harry S. Truman; humorous malapropism
- "Hymi G" –
- "Happy Harry" –
- "Hotel Yamato" – Japanese battleship Yamato; due to the amount of time spent at Truk between August 1942 and May 1943
I
- "Ike" – USS Dwight D. Eisenhower; based on nickname of namesake, Dwight D. Eisenhower
- "Ikeatraz" – USS Dwight D. Eisenhower; derogatory nickname given to those that served on board and had gotten in trouble in some way.
- "Indy" – USS Independence
- "Iron Duck" – HMS Iron Duke
- "Fighting I" – USS Intrepid
- "Ichiban Benjo Maru" – ; due to an outbreak of bacillary dysentery that required quarantine
- "Iron Woman"
J
- "Jimmy K" – USS James K. Polk
- "Johnny Reb" – USS John C. Stennis
K
- "Kaarnavene" – Finnish Navy Nuoli class fast gunboats. The name means literally "bark boat": they were made from non-magnetic mahogany.
- "Kami-ha-ha" – USS Kamehameha; humorous malapropism
- "King of Tomahawks" – USS John Young; probably after the ship's BGM-109 Tomahawk weapons system, or "The John Bone" humorous malapropisms
- "Shitty Kitty" – USS Kitty Hawk; humorous malapropism[24]
- "Knockwood" – USS Lockwood
L
M
- "Maggie" – HMS Magnificent; HMCS Magnificent
- "The Mighty Hood" –
- "The Mighty I" – USS Iowa. Iowa was nicknamed Mighty I during her first two commissionings in WWII and the Korean War. Her nickname was changed during the Cold War c1980s, her final commissioning, to The Big Stick.
- "Mighty O" – USS Oriskany
- "Mighty T" – USS Texas (BB-35)
- "Mighty Y" – USCGC Yakutat
- "Mighty Mo" – USS Missouri
- "Mighty Moo" – USS Cowpens
- "Mobile Chernobyl" – USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
- "Moskvitch" – Finnish navy Tuima class missile boats. Soviet-built Moskvitch cars had notoriously poor reputation in Finland.
- "Motel 6" – USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)
- "Midway Magic" – USS Midway (CV-41)
N
- "Nasty Asty" – USS Astoria
- "Nasty Nick" – USS Nicholas, name given by crew due to the proclivity of the ship's AC units to break down in hot weather.
- "Nelly" – – also "Nelsol" – from fleet oilers with names ending in "ol" that the Nelson class looked similar to in silhouette.
- "Niffy Jane" – HMS Iphigenia
- "NO Boat" – USS New Orleans
- "Northo" – HMS Northumberland
O
P
Q
R
S
- "Sara", "Super Sara", "Sorry Sara", "Sister Sara", "Stripe-Stack Sara", or "Sara Maru" –
- "Saggy Pants" – HMCS Saguenay
- "Sally Rand" – HMCS St. Laurent (DDH 205) (decommissioned) nickname of several ships which have been named St. Laurent, of which HMCS St. Laurent DDH 205 was the most recent.
- "San Francisco's Own" – USS Carl Vinson; Name bestowed upon the ship by then-mayor of San Francisco Dianne Feinstein.
- "Seapuppy" – USS Seawolf
- "Shall Not Perish" – USS Abraham Lincoln
- "Shiny Sheff" – HMS Sheffield
- "The Shitty Dick" – USS South Dakota – nickname given by the crewmen of USS Washington, as a result of South Dakota having been given sole credit in the press for the victory at the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
- "Shitty Kitty" – USS Kitty Hawk
- "Showboat" – USS North Carolina
- "Sleek and Deadly Duck" – USS Donald B. Beary
- "Slack Jack" – USS John F. Kennedy
- "Smiley" – USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) – nickname of former US President Carter
- "The Smoke" – HMS London
- "Sodak" –
- "USS Spring-a-leak" – USS Springfield (CLG-7) – for her alleged degraded engineering condition near the completion of her final deployment as Sixth Fleet Flagship (over 3 years)
- "Spurious" – [19]
- "Starship Vinson" – USS Carl Vinson
- "Steel Cat" – HMAS Brisbane
- "Stinkin Lincoln" – USS Abraham Lincoln
- "Suckin' 60 From Dixie", or "Suckin' Sara" –
- ”The Sum of all Fears” or “The Sum” for short - USS John C. Stennis Due to the aircraft carriers’ explosive appearance in the 2002 film, “The Sum of all Fears”, starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman
- "Surunmaa" – Finnish navy corvette Turunmaa. Literally "land of sorrow".
- "Swanky Franky" – USS Franklin D. Roosevelt
- "Swayback Maru" – USS Salt Lake City
- "Stressex" – USS Essex; humorous malapropism
- "Steamin' Deuce" – USS Essex; humorous malapropism
- "Slimey Lymie" – USS Lyman K. Swenson
- "Saint Pauline" – USS Saint Paul; Humorous malapropism
- "The Stain" – USS Stein
- "Special K" – USS Kawishiwi
- "San Jack" or "Flagship of the Texas Navy": USS San Jacinto.
- "Triple Sticks" – USS Spruance
T
U
V
- "VDQ" – NCSM Ville de Québec. Note that as a designated French-language unit, she properly uses the title Navire canadien de Sa Majesté (NCSM), which is the French translation of Her Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS)).
- "Von Stupid" – USS Von Steuben
- "Vince" – HMS Invincible
- "Vinny" –
W
Y
Z
Abbreviations
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Hollywood Joins Abe Underway to Film "Stealth" . News.navy.mil . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051218093115/http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=13848 . 18 December 2005 . dead.
- Web site: CMC . Cnsl.spear.navy.mil . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20041228072024/http://www.cnsl.spear.navy.mil/jamesewilliams/WILLIAMS/cmc.htm . 28 December 2004 . dead.
- Web site: Home Port. Usscoralsea.net. 26 May 2022.
- Web site: News and Events : Royal Navy . royalnavy.mod.uk . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235019/http://royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.1268/changeNav/3533 . 26 September 2007 . dead.
- Web site: USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) – Press release . Cvn70.navy.mil . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060906043244/http://www.cvn70.navy.mil/presrel/18NOV04_Vinson%20Birthday.html . 6 September 2006 . dead.
- Web site: Naafi – Nutty : Covey Crump (A to Aye) : Navy Slang : RN Life : Training and People : Royal Navy . Royal-navy.mod.uk . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060509160813/http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3818 . 9 May 2006 . dead.
- Web site: Super Hornets Charge Kitty Hawk Flight Deck . News.navy.mil . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051129002924/http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=12115 . 29 November 2005 . dead.
- Web site: USS Franklin Museum Association. USS Franklin Museum Association. 26 May 2022.
- Web site: U.S. Navy – A Brief History of Aircraft Carriers – USS Enterprise (CV 6) . Chinfo.navy.mil . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060427021258/http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv06-enterprise/cv06-enterprise.html . 27 April 2006 . dead.
- Web site: U.S. Navy – A Brief History of Aircraft Carriers – USS Enterprise (CVN 65) . Chinfo.navy.mil . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060427092124/http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv65-enterprise/cv65-enterprise.html . 27 April 2006 . dead.
- Web site: Battleship USS New Jersey BB-62 Index Page. Ussnewjersey.com. 26 May 2022.
- Web site: USS John F. Kennedy Homepage . Nol.navy.mil . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060624094755/http://www.nol.navy.mil/homepages/cv67/ . 24 June 2006 . dead.
- Web site: U.S. Navy Battleships – USS Massachusetts (BB 59) . Chinfo.navy.mil . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061207083427/http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/battleships/massachusetts/bb59-mass.html . 7 December 2006 . dead.
- Web site: USS Theodore Roosevelt Home Page . Tr.surfor.navy.mil . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060616054333/http://www.tr.surfor.navy.mil/default.aspx . 16 June 2006 . dead.
- Web site: "Speak Softly. . ." (Memory): American Treasures of the Library of Congress . . 2017-12-29 . 2008-07-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080710190036/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm139.html . dead .
- Web site: Home Royal Navy. Royalnavy.mod.uk. 26 May 2022.
- Web site: Charly: The Blue Ghost's Ghost . militaryhistory.about.com . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060426190524/http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/navalwarfare/a/blueghost.htm . 26 April 2006 . dead.
- Web site: Canada's Air Force, Aircraft: HMCS Bonaventure . Airforce.forces.gc.ca . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060510134926/http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/equip/historical/bonaventurelst_e.asp . 10 May 2006 . dead.
- http://www.royal-navy.org/shiplist/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=5&Itemid=13
- Web site: Parks Canada – News Releases and Backgrounders . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170401145917/http://www.pc.gc.ca/APPS/CP-NR/release_e.asp?id=562&andor1=nr . 1 April 2017 . 1 April 2017 . www.pc.gc.ca . en . dmy-all.
- Web site: Defence . National . 2014-10-23 . RCN flagship: HMCS Haida, Canada's "fightingest ship" . https://web.archive.org/web/20220916033707/https://www.canada.ca/en/navy/corporate/history-heritage/haida.html . 2022-09-16 . 2022-09-16 . www.canada.ca.
- Web site: BBC – WW2 People's War – Donald Delves' War, Part 10 : Postscript, Home & HMS Warspite "The Grand Old Lady" . 2006-08-14 . 2013-04-19 . https://archive.today/20130419192841/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/99/a4464399.shtml . dead .
- Web site: Forget Harry's Banana Cake! The Queen Can't Hide Her Amusement at This Amazing Cake of Herself . Perry . Simon . 7 December 2017 . People . Meredith Corporation . 26 March 2021 . The monarch is depicted between two sailors on the cake. One is holding a sign that says "HMS" (signifying Her Majesty's Ship) and the Queen holds a plaque simple saying "Me.".
- Web site: Prohaska . Kim . The USS Shitty Kitty Decommissioned . Seattlest Daily . 2009-05-14 . 2010-10-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111001135314/http://seattlest.com/2009/05/14/the_uss_shitty_kitty_decommissioned.php . 2011-10-01 . dead .
- Web site: Take Not Your Own Revenge. Zianet.com. 26 May 2022.
- Web site: HMS Albion R07 1962 to 1964 Commission "The Old Grey Ghost of the Borneo Coast" . Hmsalbion.org.uk . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101110065251/http://www.hmsalbion.org.uk/ . 10 November 2010 . dead.
- Web site: Official Homepage of USS CONSTITUTION . 2007-02-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070213180914/http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/ . 2007-02-13 .
- Web site: The British Postal Museum & Archive – Viscount Cunningham & HMS Warspite . 2006-08-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060822083953/http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/exhibitions/ww2stamps/cunningham . 2006-08-22 . dead .
- Web site: BBC – WW2 People's War – My Life My War – Chapter 12c. Bbc.co.uk. 26 May 2022.
- http://www.royal-navy.org/shiplist/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=5&Itemid=13
- Web site: USS California (BB-44) War History: 7 Dec 1941. Ibiblio.org.
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051105/OBPIERS05/TPObituaries/?pageRequested=all
- Web site: History of the Canadian Navy. Battleships-cruisers.co.uk .
- Web site: Military and Veteran Benefits, News, Veteran Jobs. Military.com. 26 May 2022.