History Main / LegacyVesselNaming

** Cunard for instance has had two ships each named ''Mauretania'', ''Ivernia'', ''Saxonia'', ''Parthia'', or ''Carinthia'', three each named ''Caronia'', ''Franconia'', and of course, the sequentially named Queens, ''Queen Elizabeth'', ''Queen Mary'', ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' and ''Queen Mary 2''. (''Queen Elizabeth 2'' would eventually be followed by a third ''Queen Elizabeth'', but without a "3" suffix[[note]]this is because the third ''QE'' -- which is a cruise ship, not an ocean liner -- was named after Queen Elizabeth I, ''not'' Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother like the ocean liners ''QE'' and ''QE2''; she followed the earlier cruise ship ''Queen Victoria'' and was followed herself by the ''Queen Anne'', forming a "set" of Cunard cruise ships named after British queens regnant. Because the original ocean liner ''Queen Mary'' is still afloat and moored as a hotel in California, and Cunard's only true ocean liner is named ''Queen Mary 2'', it is unlikely that a ''Queen Mary'' will join this fleet of cruise ships -- it would be too confusing. There is, however, a bit of poetry that the first queen regnant of England, Queen Mary I, shares her name with the company flagship.[[/note]]).

** Cunard for instance has had two ships each named ''Mauretania'', ''Ivernia'', ''Saxonia'', ''Parthia'', or ''Carinthia'', three each named ''Caronia'', ''Franconia'', and of course, the sequentially named Queens, ''Queen Mary 2'' and ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (the latter of which, oddly enough, was succeeded by a third ''Queen Elizabeth'', but without a "3" suffix[[note]]this is because the third ''QE'' -- which is a cruise ship, not an ocean liner -- was named after Queen Elizabeth I, ''not'' Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother like the ocean lines ''QE'' and ''QE2''; she followed the earlier cruise ship ''Queen Victoria'' and was followed herself by the ''Queen Anne'', forming a "set" of Cunard cruise ships named after British queens regnant[[/note]]).

** Cunard for instance has had two ships each named ''Mauretania'', ''Ivernia'', ''Saxonia'', ''Parthia'', or ''Carinthia'', three each named ''Caronia'', ''Franconia'', and of course, the sequentially named Queens, ''Queen Mary 2'' and ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (the latter of which, oddly enough, was succeeded by a third ''Queen Elizabeth'', but without a "3" suffix[[note]]this is because the third ''QE'' -- which is a cruise ship, not an ocean liner -- was named after Queen Elizabeth I, ''not'' Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother; she was followed by the cruise ships ''Queen Victoria'' and the ''Queen Anne'', forming a "set" of Cunard cruise ships named after British queens regnant[[/note]]).

!!Examples:

Works with their own pages:

* ''[[LegacyVesselNaming/StarTrek Star Trek]]''

* In ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'' Johnny is given the opportunity to name the team's new shuttle. He goes with "The Awesome". Despite Reed's objections, the name sticks. Near the end of the series, Ben is making his own shuttle, and we see that he decided to name it "Awesome II".

* In ''WesternAnimation/TopCat and the Beverly Hills Cats'', Benny was given by [[TheButlerDidIt the butler]] a tube named ''Titanic II''.

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': During the push to Cardassia, after the destruction of the USS ''Defiant'', the USS ''Sao Paulo'' is delivered to [=DS9=] as a replacement. Along with the vessel came a special dispensation from the Chief of Starfleet Operations to change the vessel's name to USS ''Defiant''.

** Amusingly enough, as of 2023, both the Britain and France have commissioned vessels in their navy named ''Temeraire''. But there's not likely to be much confusion between the two, as while the French ''Le Téméraire'' is a ballistic missile submarine, the British "ship" HMS ''Temeraire'' is a shore establishment in Portsmouth.

* In ''Literature/TheLostFleet'', it was common for new ships to be named after recently destroyed ships - especially since every ship in the Alliance fleet tended to get destroyed or damaged to the point of decommissioning within two to three years of being commissioned, and this keeps them from having to continually come up with new names. This has led to superstitions among the Navy that certain names are bad luck - usually either names that were shared by ships that the specific sailor had already been shot down in, or the perennially reused ship name ''Invincible'', which gets destroyed so frequently that the entire fleet thinks that the name is TemptingFate, and captains refuse to use parts that were salvaged from a destroyed ''Invincible'' for fear of the bad luck rubbing off.

** Amusingly enough, as of 2023, both the Britain and France have commissioned vessels in their navy named ''Temeraire''. But there's not likely to be much confusion between the two, as the French ''Le Téméraire'' is a ballistic missile submarine, the British "ship" HMS ''Temeraire'' is a shore establishment in Portsmouth.

** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' sees the ''Enterprise'' legacy explored in the third season. A couple predecessor ''Enterprises'' are at the Fleet Museum under the curation of Commodore Geordi [=LaForge=]; the NX-01 and the ''Enterprise-A''. The ''Enterprise-E'' is mentioned to have been [[NoodleIncident lost]] while under [[NeverLiveitDown Captain Worf's command]]. The ''Enterprise-F'' has a cameo during her final act before decommissioning: to lead a demonstration during Frontier Day. [[spoiler:When Frontier Day goes horribly awry when the Borg trigger their plan to hijack all the networked ships and inflict a new assimilation method on all the young adult Starfleet officers on board, the old heroes of TNG flee back to the Fleet Museum, where Geordi reveals his secret project: the (mostly) restored and fully functional ''Enterprise-D'', [[TheseusShipParadox pieced back together from other mothballed sister ships]] meant for a museum showcase but still ready to save the day one last time. And in the denouement, the ''Titan-A'', another ship with a legacy name and registry number, gets re-christened the ''Enterprise-G'', with Captain [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Seven of Nine]] in command.]]

** When the eighth US Navy ''Enterprise'' was decommissioned, it was announced that a ninth one would be built.

-->-- ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Season 6 Episode 4, Relics"

** As a rule, most of the world's navies have no hesitation to give a ship a name of a previous vessel lost in action or at sea, provided the loss occurred "honourably". Thus for instance the Royal Navy continued to use the name ''[[TemptingFate Invincible]]'', despite the predecessor that fell victim (in [[StuffBlowingUp rather spectacular]] [[MadeOfExplodium fashion]]) to a German battlecruiser that it actually outgunned[[note]]albeit having much weaker ''armor'' than its opponent[[/note]] at Jutland in 1916. USS ''Hornet'' (CV-8), which was in service for barely a year before its loss in battle in late 1942, gave its name to CV-12, which entered service a year and a bit after ''that''. And the larger ships (i.e. light cruisers and above) of the ''Reichsmarine'' of the Weimar Republic and its Nazi successor, the ''Kriegsmarine'' generally received the names of ships of the Imperial German Navy that had been sunk by superior forces during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI or they got names that had not been used before. Conversely, ships that were lost "dishonorably" would taint their name. Thus, the Royal Navy did not have another ''Bounty'', and when the ''[[Film/TheBattleshipPotemkin Knyaz Potyomkin-Tavrichesky]]'' was handed back to the Russian Navy, it quickly was renamed ''Panteleymon''.

** As a rule, most of the world's navies have no hesitation to give a ship a name of a previous vessel lost in action or at sea, provided the loss occurred "honourably". Thus for instance the Royal Navy continued to use the name ''[[TemptingFate Invincible]]'', despite the predecessor that fell victim to a German battlecruiser that it actually outgunned at Jutland in 1916. And the larger ships (i.e. light cruisers and above) of the ''Reichsmarine'' of the Weimar Republic and its Nazi successor, the ''Kriegsmarine'' generally received the names of ships of the Imperial German Navy that had been sunk by superior forces during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI or they got names that had not been used before. Conversely, ships that were lost "dishonorably" would taint their name. Thus, the Royal Navy did not have another ''Bounty'', and when the ''[[Film/TheBattleshipPotemkin Knyaz Potyomkin-Tavrichesky]]'' was handed back to the Russian Navy, it quickly was renamed ''Panteleymon''.

* After in 1831, captain Dutch navy captain Jan van Speijk blew up his ship with himself still on it rather than have it fall into the hands of the Belgian insurgents, Dutch king Willem 1 issued a Royal Decree that as long as the Dutch will have a navy, there will always be a warship called ''Speijk'' to honor the captain’s name. The current frigate HNLMS ''Van Speijk'' (F828) is the seventh Dutch warship of that name.

** Holland-America Line is an even bigger offender, with three ''Nieuw Amsterdam''s, four each named ''Maasdam'' and ''Statendam''[[note]]five if you count the ship completed as HMS ''Justicia'' during World War I and was sunk under that name, six if you count the current ''Nieuw Statendam''[[/note]], and '''six''' ''Rotterdam''s.

* The Rogue [[spoilers:later revealed to be Petey]] from ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' has so many ships he evidentially struggles to come up with enough names that fit his ThemeNaming scheme, judging by some of the names resorted to. He also reuses names when a ship is destroyed. The result, five separate vessels have gotten the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast inspiring]] name of ''Predictably Damaged''. As [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2004-08-23 the comic]] explains a normal human would likely have picked a new name by now, but the Rogue enjoys the irony.

* The ''Rogue'' from ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' has so many ships he evidentially struggles to come up with enough names that fit his ThemeNaming scheme, judging by some of the names resorted to. He also reuses names when a ship is destroyed. The result, five separate vessels have gotten the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast inspiring]] name of ''Predictably Damaged''. As [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2004-08-23 the comic]] explains a normal human would likely have picked a new name by now, but the Rogue enjoys the irony.

** Similar to the RealLife examples below, sometimes ships get renamed so that a legacy name can be reused. The main example is that by tradition, the name HMS ''Nike'' is always given to the lead ship of the most advanced class of battlecruiser in service. When a revolutionary new class of battlecruiser is introduced in the interregnum between the First and Second Manticore-Haven Ward, it is named ''Nike'' since the previous ''Nike'' is scheduled to be decommissioned. However when hostilities flare up again the old ''Nike'' has to be [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece bought back into service]] and is renamed ''Hancock Station'', which was where that particular ''Nike'' fought in its first engagement.

* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in [[Series/StargateSG1 Stargate SG-1]] after Stargate Command refuse Colonel O'Neill's request to name the X-303 ''Enterprise''. Instead it was named the ''Prometheus'', much to his dismay.