Royal Navy Ships Badges

Peter C. Smith

Published by Photo Precision Ltd, A Balfour Book, hardcover with dustjacket, illustrated.
Dustjacket damaged.


The study of the ships' badges carried by all vessels of the Royal Navy will reward the reader with a fascinating insight into the whole spectrum of naval history and tradition. The custom of carrying an individual badge is a comparatively recent innovation but is a direct descendant of other and far older manifestations of heraldry in the Royal Navy.

Among the numerous inanimate artifacts which man has accumulated about himself the ship is one of the most ancient and is also the one which possesses in abundance individualistic characteristics closely resembling a living creature. Rudyard Kipling's classic little tale, The ship that found herself, describes perfectly the feeling of movement and life which make up whole sections of steel and machinery into something akin to life. How much more' alive' then must have seemed the sailing ships of bygone ages, especially to the more unsophisticated and sentimental sailor of those times.

Little wonder then, that from time immemorial ships have been graced with names and are still today always referred to as 'she'. She, your ship, could be a hard mistress indeed in bad weather but a comfort and a mother as well. Over the centuries these names have become identified with stirring episodes and valorous deeds, thus gaining by association extra prestige and affection. And so, today, they pro vide the modern rating in his steel-enmeshed floating computer with a tenuous link with the wood en walls and hearts-of-oak of his famous forebears.

In the earliest days there was no established fighting fleet and names were general to all types of vessel, and were, more of ten than not, of a mystic or religious nature. In these frail little craft the crews, once at sea, were certainly in the hands of their Maker, thus we find Jesus of 1420, innumerable Mary's from 1350 onward and Trinity of 1414.

During the early 16th century ships began to be built specifically for combat and Henry VIII is well known for the laying of the firm foundations of a permanent fighting fleet. The royal influence on ships names therefore became prominent with names like Sovereign, Regent and the older Queen becoming identified with warships. The new-found spirit of combat and defiance at sea enhanced by the stirring deeds of Elizabethan mariners was also reflected with such aggressive names as Dreadnought, Revenge and Victory.

And so it continued, each new name soon added lustre to itself with combat and passed on the pride in the ship, and the service, to its successor. The Commonwealth saw the beginnings of organised fighting at sea with the famous Generals-at-Sea like …………………………………..