Name Histories R

Ship Name Histories - Database of histories of ship names beginning with letter R.

Name Origin: Raven

Name Origin: Field Marshal John Radetzky of Radetz, duke of Custoza; born 1766, died 1858. He entered the Army in 1784 and fought in the early wars against the French republic. In 1809 he distinguished himself at the battle of Wagram, and was Chief of the Staff of the Austrian Army at the battle of Leipzig 1813. In 1831 he received the command of the army of occupation in Northern Italy; and in 1848-1849, during the first world war of Independence, he repeatedly defeated the Sandinians, notably at the battles of Custoza and Novara.

Rafale

Name Origin: - Squall.

Ragnar

Name Origin: A mighty Viking and king in Sweden.

Rahova

Name Origin: A Bulgarian village taken by the Romanian troop on November 7^th 1877, during the war with Turkey.

Railleur

Name Origin: - Banterer.

Rainha Dona Amelia

Name Origin: The Dowager Queen Amelie of Portugal, widow of the late King Carlos I, daughter of the ate Comte de Paris; born 1865, married 1886.

Raket

Name Origin: Rocket.

Ramillies

Name Origin: Commemorates the victory of May 12th/23rd 1706 over the French during the war of the Spanish Succession. The battle was fought near the village of that name in Belgium. The British forces and their allies, the Dutch, were commanded by the Duke of Marlborough, the French were under Marshal de Villeroy, and their allies, the Bavarians, under the Elector of Bavaria. The enemy lost 4000 killed.

Ran

Name Origin: In Norse mythology the wife of the sea giant Aegir. All drowned men belong to her. She dwells with Aegir and their nine daughters in a palace under the sea in the Cattegat.

Rance

Name Origin: - Small River in the northwest of France. St Servan and St Malo lie at its junction with the Ille and Vilaire Canal.

Randumica

Name Origin: Swallow.

Ranger

Rap

Name Origin: Rapid.

Rapiere

Name Origin: - Rapier.

Ra-Shu-Maru

Name Origin: The Japanese name for the Argun district, and given to the Russian steamer Argun, captured in 1904.

Rask

Name Origin: Swift.

Raven

Ravn

Name Origin: Raven.

Razstoropni

Name Origin: Speedy

Razyaschi

Name Origin: Striker.

Recruit

Redbreast

Redoutable

Name Origin: - Redoubtable.

Regina Elena

Name Origin: Queen Helen, consort of Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy, born 1873, daughter of the Prince of Montenegro.

Regina Margherita

Name Origin: Queen Margaret, widow of Umberto, King of Italy; born 1851, a princess of Savoy, daughter of the late duke of Genoa.

Reiher

Name Origin: Heron

Reina Regente

Name Origin: Queen Regent. Queen Christina, second wife of King Alfonso XII, an Archduchess of Austria, born 1858. From the time of her husband’s death in 1885 until 1902 she acted as the Regent of Spain for her son, King Alfonso XIII.

Reinier Claeszen

Name Origin: Dutch seaman. In the autumn of 1606 he commanded a ship in Admiral Hautain’s fleet, which was cruising in the Atlantic to intercept the Portuguese West India squadron. Off Cape St. Vincent Hautain was attacked by the Spanish fleet under Don Louis Fiasciardo. Several large galleons assailed Claeszen’s vessel, and when the Dutch were forced to retreat, he continued for two days alone to defend his now unmanageable ship against the enemy. At the end of this time she was a complete wreck, with but sixty of her crew left alive. Capture appearing imminent, Claeszen called Council of War, and with the consent of the survivors, he set fire to the powder magazine. The explosion destroyed the ship and all on board accept two men, whom the Spaniards picked up.

Renown

Name Origin: Commemorates the capture of two French ships called Renomnee, who were both added to the Royal Navy under the translation Renown. The first was taken in December 1651 off the straits of Gibraltar by the Nonsuch, Captain Mildmay; the second, a 32 gun frigate, was taken by the Dover, 50, Captain the Hon. Washington Shirley, on September 13th 1747.

Republica

Name Origin : Republic.

Republica

Name Origin: Republic.

Republique

Name Origin: - Republic. The name was given in 1901 to a battleship to commemorate the continued existence of the present (third) French Republic, which was established in 1870 on the downfall of the Second empire.

Repulse

Name Origin: Before 1596 the name was Due Repulse or Dieu Repulse.

Requin

Name Origin: - Shark.

Research

Resolution

Resguardo

Name Origin : Coastguard.

Retivi

Name Origin: Brisk.

Re Umberto

Name Origin: The late King Humbert I of Italy, born 1844, succeeded to the throne in 1878, and was assassinated in 1900.

Revenge

Rhein

Name Origin: The river Rhine.

Rhenus

Name Origin: The Latin name of the river Rhine.

Riachuelo

Name Origin: Commemorates the naval battle fought near here on June 11^th 1865, when Admiral Barroso with eight Brazilian ships and defeated the Paraguayan fleet of 14 ships.

Ribble

Name Origin: A river formed by the junction of the Gale Beck and the Cam Beck, at Selside, and flowing into the Irish Sea.

Rinaldo

Name Origin: Renaud or Regnault, a famous character in medieval romance. Hw was one of the four sons of Aymon, one of the bravest of Charlemagne's knights, and owned the famous horse Bayard. The Italian poet, Torquato Tasso, made him the hero of his first great poem, published at Padua in 1562, in which the French name is rendered as Rinaldo in Italian. The Admiralty records give no clue as to the reason for bestowing this name on a British man-of-war; but it may be mentioned that Handel's opera Rinaldo, first produced in 1711 was still popular in London at the time when the first Rinaldo was built.

Rinda

Name Origin: A page of honour of the ancient Tsars.

Rindjani

Name Origin: A volcano on the island of Lombok.

Ringdove

Rio de Janeiro

Name Origin: One of the twenty United States; Nictheroy is its capital.

Rio de la Plata

Name Origin: The Spaniards settled in the Republics through which this great South American river runs, viz. Argentina and Uruguay, subscribed the money to build this small cruiser in 1898.

Rio Grande

Name Origin: Rio Grande de Sul, one of the twenty United States; its capital is Porto Alegre.

Rio Lima

Name Origin: A river to the south of the Minho, on the west coast of Portugal.

Riurik

Name Origin: Rurik, the founder of the Russian State, chief of the Norse tribe of Warangians. In 862 he was called to the assistance of the Slavs of Novgorod who were hard pressed by neighbouring rivals. He conquered the country round about, and reigned in Novgorod until his death in 879. His descendants were Tsars in Russia until the end of the sixteenth century, when the family became extinct with the death of Feodor I, Tsar of Muscovy.

Rjukan

Name Origin: Spray, foam.

Robin

Rocket

Rodney

Name Origin: Admiral George Brydges Rodney, Lord Rodney; born 1718, died 1792. Hw went to sea at the age of twelve as King's letter boy, became a Lieutenant in 1739, and a Captain in1742. In that rank he took part in Hawke's action off Finisterre, October 14th 1747, in command of the Eagle. The following year he was appointed Governor of Newfoundland. In 1758 he served as Captain of the Dublin under Boscawen at the capture of Louisburg. Having attained flag rank in 1759, he commanded a squadron which bombarded Havre and destroyed the invasion flotilla assembled there. In 1762, in conjunction with the Army, he captured the French West India islands. Promoted to Vice Admiral in 1763, Rodney was created a Baronet the next year, and then acted as Governor of Greenwich Hospital until appointed to the command of the Jamaica station in 1771, where he remained three years. Sent out a third time to the West Indies, with orders to relieve Gibraltar on the way, he defeated the Spanish Admiral Langara off Cape St Vincent on January 16th 1780, capturing 7 of his 11 ships. In April and May of that year he three times fought the French in the West Indies under De Guichen, and took the Dutch island of Eustatia in the following year. On April 12th 1782 he gained the famous victory off Dominica over the French fleet under De Grasse, who was taken with his flagship, the Ville de Paris. A new form of attack was initiated by Rodney in this battle. Instead of the usual ship versus ship fighting, he broke through the enemy's line, intending to throw his whole force on a portion only of the enemy - tactics which were so successfully adopted by his great successors. For these services Rodney was rewarded with a Peerage and a pension of £2000 a year.

Roebuck

Rolf Krake

Name Origin: In Norse legends a hero celebrated for all kingly virtues. He is said to have reigned at Lejre in Denmark, and to have been a bold and successful Viking. He was treacherously slain by his brother in law after a great banquet about the year 600. His surname Krake, which means the straight stem of a tree, he received on account of his fine upright figure.

Roma

Name Origin: Rome

Romania

Name Origin: The kingdom was forced out of the principalities of Moldova and Wallachia, tributaries of turkey in 1859, first as a semi-independent principality. In 1866 Prince Charles of Hohenzollern was elected Prince in 1878, as the result of the Russo-Turkish, Romania obtained its independence; and in 1881 it was erected into a kingdom.

Roon

Name Origin: Field-Marshal Count Albrecht von Roon, born 1803, died 1879. He entered the Prussian Army in 1821, and soon distinguished himself as a military reformer and writer. In 1859 he became Prussian Minister of War, which post he held until 1873; he was also Minister of Marine from 1861 to 1872. The great and successful work of the reorganisation of the Prussian Army, begun in 1856, and to which in great art was due the success of the wars of 1866 and 1870-1871, was inspired and carried out by Roon in the face of much bitter opposition.

Rossia

Name Origin: Russia.

Rostislaff

Name Origin: One of the ancient Russian princes, after whom was named the ship onboard of which Prince Dolgorooky flew his flag at the battle of Chesme in 1770, and which afterwards was the flagship of Admiral Greig in the battle of Gogland in 1788.

Rota

Name Origin: In Norse mythology one of the Valkyres or “shield maidens.” She went forth daily from Walhalla, the residence of Odin, to select the men who that day should fall in battle.

Rother

Name Origin: A river rising in Sussex, and flowing into the English Channel a few miles below Rye. Another small river of this name in the same county is a tributary of the Arun.

Roxburgh

Name Origin: A county of Scotland on the English border in the Tweed basin. It took its name from a royal castle, an early residence of the kings of Northumbria, demolished in the 16th century.

Royal Arthur

Name Origin: Field Marshal HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria. Born May 1st 1850, he entered the Army in 1868. After serving in the three arms and holding several staff appointments, he commanded the Guards Brigade in the Egyptian campaign of 1882, was Commander-in-Chief in Bombay, commanded the Southern District, held the Aldershot command, was Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, then Inspector-General of the Forces, and is now High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of the troops in the Mediterranean.

Royal Oak

Name Origin: Commemorates the famous tree near Boscobel, County Salop, in which King Charles II hid himself during his flight after the battle of Worcester, September 3rd 1651.

Royal Sovereign

Rubi

Name Origin: Ruby.

Rubix

Name Origin: - Ruby.

Rucumilla

Name Origin: One of the Auracanian heroines wives of the Caciques, who fought the Spanish invaders. They figure in a poem called “La Auracana,” by Don Alonso de Ercilla.

Ruggiero di Lauria

Name Origin: Celebrated Sicilian Admiral, born 1250, died 1305. He drove the French from Sicily after defeating them repeatedly at sea, ravaged their province of Languedoc in 1286, and fought and scattered the Ottoman fleets in the Mediterranean. He assisted Frederick, the brother of the King of Aragon, in making himself King of Sicily; but when he found his service rewarded with suspicion and intratitude, he joined the rival party of Don Jayme and inflicted several defeats on King Frederick. He retired soon after to Valencia, where he died.

Russell

Name Origin: Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, Earl of Orford; born 1652, died 1727. Entering the Navy young, he found himself a Captain at the age of 20. In 1689 he was appointed Treasurer of the Navy. The following year he succeeded the Earl of Torrington as Commander-in-Chiefv of the combined English and Dutch fleets, with the rank of Admiral of the Fleet. He failed to bring the French fleet - keeping the sea in the Channel under Admiral Tourville - to action until May 1692, when he obtained, together with a Dutch fleet, the decisive victory of Cape Barfleur. From political motives he was not only not rewarded in any way, but deprived of his command. He was succeeded by a Commission of three Admirals acting from a single flagship, which flew the Admiral of the Fleet's flag. In 1693, however, he reassumed command of the Grand Fleet, and from 1694 to 1696 he acted as Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean. In 1697 he was created Earl of Orford and Viscount Barfleur.

Ryani

Name Origin: Fierce.

Ryezvi

Name Origin: Petulant