Hmmm, for some reason, Mike, what comes to mind is christening the USS Lindsay Lohan (with HOW MANY bottles of champagne?).
Full or empty bottles? And what happened to the white stripes on the deck [:|]?
Mike
I would have to second the CSS Alabama. She single handedly kept the Union navy afraid to sail the Atlantic for months and single handedly sank over FIFTY ships. Kearsarge got lucky only after the French refused to back an ally. Something the French have tended to do with alarming regularity.
My other nomination would be the DDs in Leyte Gulf. They held off the point of the spear of the Japanese navy which must have been rather red faced after they realized a battleship task force was turned back by a couple of destroyers.
Another would be the first PTs in WWI which had BB skippers afraid to sail until they were sure the waters were clear of these annoying little gnats. An 80 foot boat that effectively held off Battleships and inspired the creation of a new category of ship, the Patrol Boat Destroyer which later had its name simply shortened to Destroyer.
The American Gato class subs which succeeded where Donitz’s U-boats failed. They actually did strangle the Japanese home islands off from their supply lines which Donitz’s boats failed due in part to those other nominees of mine, the Flower Class Corvettes. Cheap, easy to build and easy to fight with but more effective than I think history gives credit for. I’m not sure I could feel a great martial swell for a ship named the Daisy or Baby’s Breath but they got the job done. Imagine you are a fallen U-boat skipper and you just arrived in Heaven and ran into your fellow U-boat skippers who gallantly fell before you and you are comparing notes and your comrades ask you something like, “Who sunk you?” and your fellow skippers get to say they were sunk by the Warspite or the Invincible or the Indefatigable or the Battle Axe or names like that and you have to say you were sunk by the Bluebell or the Pussy Willow. It would be a long eternity to have to live that one down.
That’s just my [2cnts] worth or more accurately a dime’s worth.
In-Re: USS Lindsay Lohan sub-thread
Well, I suppose they would have been full… once. I have this sick image of a bloodshot Aegis radar though.
Taking another tack, I recall back in 1968(?) when DoD was planning the USS Nimitz (CVAN-68), there were 4 hull designs in contention. #1 was a near clone of the Enterprise, #2 was a conservative improvement, #3 was the more radical alternative (that eventually won the selection), and #4 was a [dinkywongo] catamaran hydrofoil! Yeah, it was what is known in the biz as a sacrificial choice, one that doesn’t have a hope in Tophet of actually being accepted. “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’”
Or how about being sunk by HMS Buttercup[:)]. I do have a soft spot for flowerclass corvettes.
I seem to remember a comment mad by a British Admiral complaining about the method Canadian corvettes used to sink U-boats. “You are supposed to sink them with depth charges not bludgeon the bastards to death” this was supposedly after a string of sinkings by Canadian corvettes where they rammed the U-boats.
Zuiho…
I believe that would fall under “Loser” Herr Field Marshall. [;)], unless you want to say “successful decoy”.
I take inspirations from the brave destroyers in the Batlle of Leyte gulf who engaged the superior enemy force. Some were sunk but the ships will go down in naval history.
Classic example of David vs Goliath. Some very brave sailors who fought against overwhelming odds.
I’m sorry I was not clear. I, too, have a soft spot for the flowers. I have my second Revell one on deck to be built for R/C. I think they were not only a great winner according to this category but I love the look of them as well. As for you, Tigerman, try reading the book Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James Hornfischer. It is beautifully written and reads like a great adventure novel but the history is well researched and very complete. It is also available on Kindle.
The Revell kits is extremely easy to convert to R/C. However don’t make the same mistake I did, glue the breakwaters forward of the 4"gun to the fo’c’sle deck not to the section with the 4"gun and Wheelhouse. My corvette works well in the water but when it hits a little “sea” the waves come over the bow, hit the breakwater and leak into the hull. My corvette now needs a serious refit after 25 years and attacks by Canada geese and waterborn hunter killer rottweilers (the dog jumped off a dock and swam after my corvette thank goodness I over powered it, oh how I wished for remote control depth charges)