Oh That Wacky Royal Navy

There is no navy in the world that is quite as colorful in its seagoing nomenclature as Great Britain's Royal Navy.  Here's a little trick that I have.  Whenever I'm feeling a little blue, I know that I can always cheer myself up by jumping on the interwebs and looking at lists of RN ships.  Just imagine being a sailor on the HMS Dido or Porcupine, the Inconstant, the Arrogant, or the Terrible.  Then you'd be lucky, because you won't have to explain your duties on the HMS Tickler, the Plumper, or even the HMS Redbreast.  A very popular silly ship name is, of course, the HMS Gay Viking.

My personal favorite, my pick for the most ridiculous Royal Navy ship name goes to this one:

Ladies and gentlemen, the HMS Cockchafer.  Where the call of "all hands on deck" always met a ready answer.

This is my challenge to you, dear reader.  Can you find a Royal Navy ship with a more ridiculous name than Cockchafer?  I think not, but I challenge you -- mostly because I'm feeling a bit under the weather and could use a laugh -- see if you can come up with a more ludicrous ship than Cockchafer.


Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men,
We always are ready; steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.