Looking for info on Naval Figureheads and naming schemes

**Bellerophon** · 01-17-2014, 10:52

Howdy, fellow seamen:

I'm finishing up my undergrads in Classics and History, and while playing SOG the other day it occurred to me a good avenue to connect the two would be Neoclassicism in the 18th-19th century. While obviously there's a lot of Art and literary Neoclassicism in this period (Take for example, the painting of Napoleon visiting plague victims at Jaffa, in which he is posed in much the same manner as the Belvedere Apollo, the god of plagues), I'm looking to find some info on Naval Neoclassicism.

Are there any good books / sources out there for any of the following:

1. The rationale behind naming ships or classes of ships after figures in Classical Antiquity (HMS Juno, Achille, HMS Agamemnon, etc.)
2. Art books with collections of figureheads of Napoleonic warships, potentially carved to resemble ancient characters.
3. Plates with figureheads
4. Actual material culture from the era which evinces Ancient ideas.
5 Writings of the time that are classical in nature - (A captain comparing his plight to that of Odysseus, or something of that ilk)

Basically, any connections between European navies and the Ancient World. Full disclosure, this will be part of a larger senior thesis on Classical Reception (That is, how various periods in history interpret and mimic Ancient Greece and Rome). I'd be grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction. Thanks in advances, mates!

**Nightmoss** · 01-17-2014, 11:48

It sounds like you're creating an interesting senior thesis. Searching the web is certainly one way to go about your study, but if you have access to a graduate research library I'd go there to start looking for information (Don't forget to check in with the reference librarians. That's why they're there).

You could also start with the Library of Congress online catalog: http://catalog.loc.gov/
If you find books, etc., there you can then see if they're held in a local library system. Here's something I found from a 'basic' search of the catalog: http://lccn.loc.gov/25027630

Checking museum sites for exhibitions might give you some leads too? I just found this one, which is visually very interesting: http://lovelyoldtree.wordpress.com/2...p-figureheads/

Good luck and let us know how the research progresses.

**DeRuyter** · 01-17-2014, 12:31

I visited the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich last summer and some of their figurehead collection was on display. Not sure what is on their web site, but here is a link:

http://www.collections.rmg.co.uk/

Here is something on the museum blog I saw on ship names:

http://blogs.rmg.co.uk/collections/2...-18th-century/

The museum also has the stern gallery and figurehead from HMS Implacable ex French Téméraire-class SoL Duguay-Trouin. You can see a photo (the figurehead is in the background) on the ship's wiki entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Implacable_(1805)

Very impressive close up. Too bad they had to scuttle her.

Eric

**David Manley** · 01-17-2014, 12:45

I would suggest contacting the Royal Navy's Naval Historical Branch in Victory Building, HM Naval Base Portsmouth. i believe they either own or know the location of all surviving RN figure heads in the UK (quite a few in Portsmouth obviously, but also quite a few dotted around the old South yard and other sites in Devonport). NHB, the National Archives (the old Public Records Office) and/or the National Maritime Museum should also have records of the various Admiralty naming committees

**David Manley** · 01-17-2014, 12:51

PS I'm sure you've seen the following

http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info...igureheads.htm

and the linked reading list, but if not they may be useful.

Oh, and just thinking about this, the Swedish Naval Museum at the naval base in Karlskrona also has a decent collection of figureheads and probably has as good a handle on the RSwN's approach to these things as the NHB.

**Berthier** · 01-18-2014, 05:12

Carlos
A quick look through some reference books for Britain at least revealed there was/is a Ship Names Committee. Apparently the reference works below both give the ships names derivations for Britain and also the USA

BRITISH WARSHIP NAMES by Thomas D Manning and C F Walker London Putnam 1959 498pp has a dictionary of names
http://www.amazon.com/British-Warshi...+warship+names

For USA see
"Dictionary of American Fighting Ships" (DANFS)- multi volumes
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...can%20warships