So I had the USS John Darnielle, the USS Wayne Coyne and the USS Richard D. James.

When I next get the urge to reinstall and shoot some guys, next ship I earn will probably end up being the Steve Albini.

Because, really, is there anything worse than dicking around open space and seeing yet another BLACK OPS MASTER DESTROYER NUMBER ZERO zip by? (I almost said "master killer" there, but I can't disrespect Wu-Tang.)

USS Thomas Keller -> USS Eric Ripert -> USS Joel Robuchon.

If I'd stuck with it to the Admiralty, my plan was to name that one the USS Jacques Escoffier. Though I might bave been tempted to go with the USS Paul Bocuse at certain moments.

(I also got tempted to do USS Martin Picard, but I don't think they'd get the joke.)

Cosmonaut Buchanan's have had the IPSF Defiant-class "words ending in -ant" thing going on.

• USS Invariant (Miranda-class light cruiser)


• USS Trenchant (Constitution-class Mk I light cruiser)


• USS Vigilant (Constitution-class Mk IX cruiser)


• USS Termagant (Defiant-class escort)


• USS Triumphant (Excelsior-class advanced heavy cruiser)

Triumphant has actually been two separate ships - the Excelsior class appears in-game at two different tiers - but I deleted the old one and gave the new one its name and registry number, the assumption being that it's the same ship refitted. (Why I didn't think to do that with Trenchant I'm not sure.)

Swede Andersson, on the other hand, names her ships after scientists, mostly Swedish (apart from her starter ship, which is named after a city in Skåne).

• USS Ystad (Centaur-class light cruiser)


• USS Ångström (Oberth-class science vessel)


• USS Lundmark (Nova-class science vessel)


• USS Berzelius (Olympic-class science/medical vessel)


• USS Feynman (Excelsior-class advanced heavy cruiser, acquired when Swede got tired of losing fights all the time with the Berzelius)


• USS Alfred Nobel (Ambassador-class support cruiser)


• USS Nordenskiöld (São Paulo-cless escort)

Apart from her immediately-deleted, now-forgotten starter ship, "Retro" Cooper has so far only had one starship, albeit in two guises - the delete-and-rename trick means that USS Navarone started out as a TOS-era Connie and is now the movie type.

Over in the KDF, K'Senya MacCready has had but two ships, owing to the fact that she skipped straight over Tier II because of bonus XP weekend and I've so far stubbornly resisted trading up from her Tier III ship, even though it is becoming an almighty slog. (She's actually stuck on a ground mission right now, though, so... )

• IKS Hwacha' (Koloth-class bird-of-prey)


• IKS noDwI' (Koro't'Inga-class battle cruiser dressed as the classic K't'Inga class)

Despite looking like it might be a Klingon word, Hwacha' is actually the name of an ancient Korean battery weapon, similar in concept and execution to the German Nebelwerfer and Soviet Katyusha multiple-launch rocket systems of World War II. You may have seen it on an episode of Mythbusters. noDwI', on the other hand, is a Klingon word. It means "one who counterattacks"; a more ship-name-like Standard translation would be Retaliator.

And lastly there is Saris of Virinat, my Romulan commander, who - and I recognize that this actually makes no internal cultural sense, so you can assume it's some kind of translation artifact if you like - has so far named both of her ships after ancient Roman gladiator classifications.

• RRW Retiarius (T'liss-class light warbird)


• RRW Venator (Dhelan-class warbird)

The retiarius was the "fisherman"-themed gladiator with the trident and the net; venators were "huntsmen", who specialized in fighting wild animals instead of other gladiators, which tells you about what Saris thinks of the Tal Shiar. Her next ship will probably either be called the Provocator (a kind of gladiator who was equipped like a legionary and only fought others of the same kind) or the Secutor (a heavily armored gladiator who usually fought retiarii).

Similarly, now that she's a Federation ally she has access to Starfleet ship classes, so there is the temptation to pick her up a heavily armed escort-type ship as some point and call it the Thracian after still another kind of gladiator - the thraex, who fought dressed and armed like, well, a Thracian. Thraexes were sort of the rudos or "heels" of the gladiatorial games - combatants who dressed like national enemies of Rome to give the audience somebody to root against. (cf. that quintessential pro wrestling heel, the Iron Sheikh.)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Well, I haven't been playing enough to really think about naming patterns as everyone else has, but I've been trying for the odd joke here and there. For instance, my L50 (as of Saturday) Romulan captain Suran is currently flying around the galaxy in a top-end Warbird dubbed the D'Relikt.

And when I go back to my Klingon captain Koth, I will inevitably name all his ships to come Vengeance or its Klingonese equivalent, which I'm currently not bringing to mind.

-- Bob
-------------------
My race is pacifist and does not believe in war. We kill only out of personal spite.

Admiral Holmes of Starfleet flies the USS Arrow, an Avenger-class battle cruiser. Fits the ship's design as a dark-clad, possibly clandestine warship.

Admiral Kroj of the KDF flies the AKS Gala'Qti'Ka, a mirror Vo'Quv carrier. Name should be relatively straightforward for a ship that's role is to be a space whale and launch fighters.

Admiral Moloch of the Romulan Republic flies A Scimitar-class but I'm still thinking of a good name. My motif with him is he's a Mirror Universe Romulan infiltrator who drank the kool-aid and turned his coat for the Republic.

Grand Admiral Thrawn, of course, flies the Chimera. Previous ships have used names assigned to Thrawn's fleet in the books.

For my joined Trill science captain, I tried to follow the naming conventions of each class. So her Nova was named Solstice (by comparison to Equinox, which we saw on screen); her Horizon was the Moraine (assumption: class named for significant natural boundaries and lines, like Equator); her Intrepid was USS Dolphin, after various research vessels; and she currently commands USS Europa, of the Luna class (like USS Titan from the novels), named for the moons of Sol system. She's also had a turn in the Obelisk carrier USS Menhir and the Dyson science destroyer USS Cochrane.
Shuttle: Cousteau - Runabout: Thames

My Andorian tactical admiral has been with one ship for most of his long career, as first officer and then as commander: USS Washington (as in George), originally an Akira that's been progressively refit to Thunderchild specs (and is technically an Armitage under the skin, much like my engi's Sovereign is really a Regent.) As the bronze plaque on the bridge says: "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen."
Runabout: Potomac

My Klingon tactical general has a thing for raptors, with typically colorful names (which I've translated to the best of my ability): "joyful killing", "fire dancer", "blood drinker", etc. He now commands a Qin-class heavy raptor named for the legendary Koloth. He's also spent some time in the chair of the IKS QoH HoHwI' ("fool killer"), a D7 fully refitted to modern specs and capable of doing just that to anyone who underestimates him.

My Gorn engineer once commanded a Zilant battleship (represented in-game by a Tor'khat cruiser with Honor Guard gear to give it the right appearance) but is now merely "a simple freighter captain," nothing more. His Tuffli is named for the Great Mother herself, SS S'Yahazah. He's also acquired a fast Risan corvette, painted black on black, for certain discreet missions: the Eclipse.

My Romulan (Fed-allied) started out as a junior engineer on a T'Varo warbird, the RRW Sienae'nsai ("cunning claw", run together on the ae common syllable), was reassigned to the D'deridex RRW Lyret Bont'ukhi ("unyielding truth"), and then given command of the Mogai-class RRW Vauthil ("victory", and I swear I had it months before the new Mirror event came out with a station named that).
Runabout: Umhi ("sharp")

I have a couple more, but they don't follow any consistent scheme, and that's plenty anyway.

Kolet, my new Tellarite Sci, is working off a scheme of stubbornness:- Adamant, Obdurate, Iron, and Steadfast.

Erisa, my Benzite Tac originally served on the ill-fated U.S.S. Cambridgeshire; so named her subsequent Heavy Escort the U.S.S. Yorkshire, it has been heavily refitted since...

Finally, Ket, the Ferengi Sci, has ships named after warp scientists:- Alcubierre, Hawking, Zefram Cochrane, Penrose, Chandrasekhar, Fasset, and Warshawski. Once again I'm running a bit short here!

For those who don't know, a Let's Play is a strange ritual where a video game is played publicly, as much performance art and narrative expansion as it is the game itself. Many have audience participation. All ships and names were voted on by the people of Something Awful. Surprisingly, there's a consistent theme here. The LP today is a gutted shell-a lot of the videos are missing, the audience participation content and back-stories of a lot of the bridge crew are missing. But what is left still has some punch to it.

USS Benedict Arnold, Constitution class. Returned to mothballs.
USS Von Braun, Nova Class. Heavily damaged in action against the Klingons, self destruct used to destroy an asteroid heading for a non-contacted planet.
USS Ozaki, Akira class. Reassigned without incident, handed over to former first officer, then destroyed by Iconians.
USS Calvin Hudson, Intrepid with a different saucer to it looked less Janeway. RE-assigned to first officer, left on patrol of Cardassian border.
USS Brutus, Sovereign class. Contaminated by Borg during service with Omega Squadron, partly overrun by Tribble Collective owned by Molly Ramirez, Borg designation 1 of 0. Currently in a quarantined spacedock.

�Navigare Necesse Est�-'Get me out of here!'

Captain Blake of the Liberator (Tholian class carrier, really look at it)

Captain Vision of the U.S.S. Bubblegum Crisis (and the rest of the away team is the Knight Sabers)

Captain Fleur Dis Lee of the U.S.S. Canterlot (Yeah, I went there.)

Other's the ship name came later and doesn't match the captain name like:

Captain H'l'n of the Dahak (from Mutineers' Moon series)

And most of the rest, I haven't thought one up yet, or the random name given was funny, like the IKS D'og. Which apparently doesn't really mean anything in Klingon, but its still funny.