Bozkashi Jones | 27 May 2016 5:07 a.m. PST |
A friend at work sent me this in an email: "One thing I did notice last night was that one of the British Destroyers lost at Jutland was HMS Ardent. I think Ardent must be the unluckiest name for any Royal Navy ships. Since 1764 there have been eight ships named Ardent. Of them one was captured by the French in 1779, one caught fire and exploded in the Med in 1794, one was sunk at Jutland in 1916, one was sunk defending HMS Glorious in 1940 and the last was sunk by Argentine aircraft in 1982!!!! 5/8!!! A 63% loss rate for a single ship name!!!!" So – can anyone think of an unluckier ship name? |
ochoin | 27 May 2016 5:47 a.m. PST |
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Old Wolfman | 27 May 2016 6:46 a.m. PST |
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Doms Decals | 27 May 2016 6:59 a.m. PST |
Ooh, that's a good topic. Victory came to mind, ironically, but she's only 3 out of 6 – 2 burned and 1 wrecked, 2 scrapped and 1 soldiering on…. |
Bozkashi Jones | 27 May 2016 9:00 a.m. PST |
A bit of browsing and I think I have it: HMS Coventry HMS Coventry (1658) was the Spanish 28-gun ship San Miguel, captured in 1658 but then captured by the French HMS Coventry (1695) was a 48-gun fourth-rate ship-of-the-line launched in 1695, captured by the French in 1704 but soon recaptured, and broken up in 1709 HMS Coventry (1757) was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate launched in 1757, captured by the French in 1783 HMS Coventry (D43) was a C-class light cruiser launched in 1916 and sunk in an air attack in 1942 HMS Coventry (D118) was a Type 42 destroyer launched in 1974 and lost in the Falklands War HMS Coventry (F98) was a Type 22 frigate launched in 1986 and sold to Romania in 2003 So 6 Coventrys – 3 captured, 2 sunk – 83% loss rate |
Doms Decals | 27 May 2016 9:27 a.m. PST |
Blimey, no wonder being sent to Coventry's a bad thing. I'm not sure the second one counts though – if we nicked it back again you have to call it 4 out of 6 really – still edges out the OP with 66.66% though…. |
Chokidar | 27 May 2016 10:14 a.m. PST |
..and I always thought the HMAS Melbourne took pride of place… |
RavenscraftCybernetics | 27 May 2016 11:03 a.m. PST |
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Oberlindes Sol LIC | 27 May 2016 11:33 a.m. PST |
Even the town named Coventry had a bit of a rum go in the early 1940s. |
olicana | 27 May 2016 12:28 p.m. PST |
I once tried to hitch a lift to Coventry in the early 80s. I got picked up by a couple of grungy types. After picking me up at a motorway roundabout, they pulled into the next service station (for no reason I could see) and drove straight out again, whereupon the guy in the front passenger seat threw something out of the window. Next minute, sirens and blue lights. I spent the next six hours in a cell trying to explain I was a only hitching a lift. It turned out that the guys in the car were transporting a large amount of weed, hidden under the spare wheel in the boot (trunk), from Bristol up to Coventry, the car was a ringer stolen in Birmingham, and the thing I saw thrown out of the window was a road tax disc stolen in London. They were pulling on and off the motorway to see if they were being followed, apparently, and picking me up was just a way to stop to look out behind them for a minute without looking 'suspicious'. I never did get to Coventry, but the coppers were kind enough to drive me back to the motorway so I could hitch back to Bristol. Funny old world. |
bandit86 | 27 May 2016 11:19 p.m. PST |
Boaty McBoat face did not fair well |
GarrisonMiniatures | 28 May 2016 2:08 a.m. PST |
Remember going to Coventry once. Thought it was Hotel California, took ages to work out how to get out of the place… |
Lee John Ayre | 28 May 2016 2:55 a.m. PST |
I was born and raised in Coventry. Lived there for years. It s not a bad place although the post war city centre hasn t aged well. The much maligned ring road is really quite good once you get used to it. |
Buff Orpington | 28 May 2016 1:19 p.m. PST |
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zaevor2000 | 29 May 2016 6:08 a.m. PST |
HMS Invincible…British battlecruiser got all blowed up within just a few minutes of being engaged at Jutland… "Nothing can HURT me! I am INVINCIBLE!!!" |
Hussar123 | 29 May 2016 9:47 a.m. PST |
olicana, wow, just wow. and you are not on the terrorist list! |
Lion in the Stars | 30 May 2016 9:34 p.m. PST |
Gotta agree with Zaevor2000. Any ship named "Invincible" is just demanding that someone accept that challenge. |
ScottS | 20 Sep 2016 6:51 p.m. PST |
This one has a rather unfortunate name. How'd you like to have that embroidered on your hat?
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Private Matter | 29 Sep 2016 1:10 p.m. PST |
Hey ScottS, thanks for the pic. I never realized that the Royal Navy named a ship after my first wife, but always thought it was spelled with two f's. |
Storyforu | 07 Oct 2016 9:13 p.m. PST |
Sorta goes with the whole Royal Navy theme, doesn't it? link |