New ships need names

[KorbenDirewolf]

But my suggestions do mean something! It means... I'm hungry.

[Anubis]

lol Hungry. Right now, you? lol

[BringerOfLight]

A trout-slap, eh? Well, we'll see about that...

I'm probably responsible for some of this silliness, but c'mon...naming a ship after something BIG and POWERFUL and BIG and...did I say BIG? Well, it's such a cliche, don't you think? Haven't you ever just wanted to see an aircraft carrier called "Fluffy"?

I have to admit, it would be funny. It'd be even better if it were named "Fluffy the Destroyer", but I'm sure the owner of said puppy would become irate and claim copyright violations.

[STG-1]

Were is everyone in this string coming from?

First of all, these are US Air Force spacecraft, not US Navy. Don't expect the Air Force to be naming them like the Navy does. Far from it. Aircraft Carriers are currently named after US Presidents or real important Navy people. Subs are named after states or cities depending on the size of the sub.

The USAF names their vehicles using a complete different set of rules. Yes, rules. After all it is a military organization. Most likely a committee of generals, locked in a smoke filled room somewhere, will choose the names. But don't expect them to be named for living people. Most likely they are named after famous deceased aviators, like Air Force bases are. Some examples would be the "Hap Arnold", the "Billy Mitchell", Vandenberg.

[Anthro Girl]

Awww, why do you have to go and ruin all the fun? I'm still pushing for a ship called "Fluffy".

Is it my imagination, or is the Prometheus the first (fictional, d'oh) Earth-born spaceship to have Air Force-like rather than Navy-like officers/reference/ownership? Not that the Star Trek ships are controlled by the Navy, but the references certainly are Navy-like (Captain, bridge, sick bay, etc.). I don't watch enough TV sci-fi to know, so ST is the only other example I can think of right now...maybe it's the only one? In RL, the Space Shuttle has more plane-like references than ship-like. Do submarines have "pilots" or just "navigators"?

[STG-1]

Awww, why do you have to go and ruin all the fun? I'm still pushing for a ship called "Fluffy".

Is it my imagination, or is the Prometheus the first (fictional, d'oh) Earth-born spaceship to have Air Force-like rather than Navy-like officers/reference/ownership? Not that the Star Trek ships are controlled by the Navy, but the references certainly are Navy-like (Captain, bridge, sick bay, etc.). I don't watch enough TV sci-fi to know, so ST is the only other example I can think of right now...maybe it's the only one? In RL, the Space Shuttle has more plane-like references than ship-like. Do submarines have "pilots" or just "navigators"?

The history of all Air Forces is mixed with navy terms. In either case, every "craft" (air or sea) has a "commander" that is called a "captain". The US Navy as a lot of "aircraft" along with their "ships" (FYI - the US Coast Guard has "boats", not "ships"). But the USAF has only one "ship" that I know of, and that is the one used to recover Space Shuttle rocket motors after a Shuttle launch.

Anyway, yes, the Prometheus is shown as an USAF "spacecraft" instead of a US Navy one mainly because in the RW, the USAF currently has the lead in space operations over the US Navy and US Army. It is "manned' by USAF personnel with USAF rank and other traditions. But it's always political and things can change in time (I hope not since I am pro-USAF).

FYI - and yes, Star Trak was based on US Navy traditions and rank structure (i.e. Star "Fleet" Command).

Eitherway, after 17+ years in the USAF, it is my pet peve to find little errors in military type TV shows and movies.

[the adventurer]

How about naming them after Egyption Gods?

[Anubis]

That would be great. Such as the Ra or the Anubis or the Tutankhuman (however it is spelt )

[Janus]

Name them after the enemy !?
Are you sick ? O'Neill would freak out !

[Anthro Girl]

Eitherway, after 17+ years in the USAF, it is my pet peve to find little errors in military type TV shows and movies.

Ah, so the you would notice! I barely notice other than what I referenced above. The only other thing I know is that boats and ships are "female", even with a name like the "USS Dwight D. Eisenhower".

If we Earthlings ever get a real spacecraft program going, it'll be interesting to see how the structure of command and operation develops.

[Anthro Girl]

How about naming them after Egyption Gods?

As in "homage to the enemy"? As if they don't already have big enough egos? I don't think so. SG-1 should return the favor and name the big ships after Norse gods. It could lead to some great "Who's on first base?" moments.

[Hohenzollern]

If you guys remember, O'Niell did suggest the "Enterprise", however Sam laughingly informed him the Joint Chiefs turned it down, in favor of naming it after the originating project. This was in sea 6 "Unnatural Selection" I think.
As an homage?

Prometheus was an apt name for the project; Prometheus being the one who stole the tech of the gods and gave it to humankind. Prometheus was based on tech from the Asgard ship that crashed at Roswell or was it off coast of Alaska <??>. Never was sure if Sam was lying to the camera crew in Prometheus or presenting facts of the story.

I don't support the designation of "BC (Battle Cruiser)", feeling that it is more appropriately an Escort Carrier or Assault Ship, like an LHD, LHA in the US Navy.

As the ship is named Prometheus, the subsequent ships of that type would be referred to as Prometheus Class or (ugh) BC303 Class. Traditionally they would have similiar names. In this case greek mythology, not necessarily Gods but personalities interceding on Humankind's behalf against or unjustly screwed over by the "gods" (now known to have been the Goa'ould) "Jason", "Perseus", "Pandora", etc.

There is precedent in naming a ship after notable figures, even if outside the general "theme" of a class of names. A Gen Hammond would be nice, but according to tradition should not be done while Gen Hammond is on active duty. Once he is retired, sure. I would think he would rate a larger Battle Carrier or true dreadnought class ship. Asgard have the right idea. Some of their better classes are O'Niell, Daniel Jackson, etc. Suprised no Samantha Carter shown yet after she pulled their butt out of the fire with her unconventional ideas to save the Asgard from a replicator attack.

I, myself, am MOST partial to Kzinti names!! "Nesting Slashtooth *itch", "Son's Revenge", etc. The ones from Niven's Man-Kzin wars...not the "watered down Kzin" featured in the old Animated Trek series. ;-D

As a US flagged ship, it would be referred to as "she". Different in some cultures. If the Germans, for example, contributed resources and crew to field a ship after the program were/(if) made public, it would be referred to as a "he".

[Orange Crush]

I'd like to see some Goa'uld-mocking names . . . possibly "Ra is Toast", "Apophis went splat", "Whatever happened to Anubis?" and "Cold enough, Hathor?".

-Nick

[STG-1]

I don't support the designation of "BC (Battle Cruiser)", feeling that it is more appropriately an Escort Carrier or Assault Ship, like an LHD, LHA in the US Navy.

As the ship is named Prometheus, the subsequent ships of that type would be referred to as Prometheus Class or (ugh) BC303 Class. Traditionally they would have similiar names. In this case greek mythology, not necessarily Gods but personalities interceding on Humankind's behalf against or unjustly screwed over by the "gods" (now known to have been the Goa'ould) "Jason", "Perseus", "Pandora", etc.

I agree that it should not be classified as a "Battle Cruiser"; after all, it is a USAF craft, not a US Navy craft! Who's calling it a BC anyway? I didn't see that any where on the official SG-1 website. If it is there, then the producers messed up again because no one in this USAF would call it that. And if it does have two letters (BC) they would stand for "Bomber/Cargo-303" meaning that it has a dual role. First as a bomber and second as a Cargo spacecraft. The X-303 or BC-303 is a "model" number, no more, no less. Meaning that there is going to be a lot of them (more than 25).

The USAF doesn't use "class" designation as the Navy does. The USAF only uses number configurations. However, large aircraft might be given individual names. All of the B-2s are named after cities (i.e. "Spirit of Seattle"). Most C-17s are also named individually too. I guess it depends upon how much the craft costs. So a $2-4 Billion spacecraft would indeed get its own name, but it's not a "class" name.

So, the 'Prometheus' is a X(BC)-303 type "spacecraft" that has a name. It is not a "ship."

FYI - "X" means experimental, "F" is for fighter, "A" for attack, "B" for bomber, "C" for cargo, "R" for recon, and there was even a "P" for pursuit back in the Army Air Corp days. Plus, the USAF does use some two letter model codes: AC-130 which is a Gunship, it is an attack aircraft based on a cargo aircraft frame; a KC-10 or KC-767 is a cargo refueler; and the good old SR-71 is a Strategic Reconnaissance aircraft. Wait, it gets worse...AL-1A is the designation for the planned ABL ("Airborne Laser") aircraft, a Boeing 747 equipped with a high-power laser to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles.

Go to http://www.designation-systems.net/u...ndard-mds.html to be really confused.

Bottom line: The "X-303" is just a model number, just like the YF-22 ("Y" meaning pre-production, but post experimental use to be the X-22, and will be the F-22 went it goes into production.

There is precedent in naming a ship after notable figures, even if outside the general "theme" of a class of names. A Gen Hammond would be nice, but according to tradition should not be done while Gen Hammond is on active duty. Once he is retired, sure. I would think he would rate a larger Battle Carrier or true dreadnought class ship.

No, no, no...until the naming of the USS Ronald Reagan, no US warship was ever named after a living person, retired or not, period! You have to be dead first. The only way that one would be named for Hammond is if he was killed in the line of duty. Plus remember, he's only a general officer doing what a general officer is trained and paid to do! If one were to be named after him, after his death, but not KIA, then it would be a smaller craft, like one of the X-302s. Sorry, but politics plays a BIG part in this stuff. Hey, we're only dreaming out loud anyway. This is all Sci-Fi stuff.

If anyone, it would be named after O'Neill or Carter if he/she stayed dead after being killed for the X time.

[STG-1]

If you need more official information on this subject, go to http://www.designation-systems.net/u...llocation.html

At the very bottom of this webpage you will find a link to get you the pdf file for the joint Air Force/Army/Navy procedures for "Designating and Naming Military Aerospace Vehicles."

Air Force Joint Instruction 16-401, Army Regulation 70-50, and Navairinst 8800.3A

Hey, we're talking US military here, so what did you expect, something simple?