[non descript]

I wonder if, as a member of the Merchant Service, I may ask a question of the Senior Service. There are quite a few photographs of Royal Naval ships which are given the title, for example, HMS Coventry, but others spell it is H.M.S. Coventry. I believe the former is correct, but is anyone able to give a definitive ruling on this point please.

 

[Fairfield]

I think either is acceptable but if correct punctuation is to be applied then it should indeed be H.M.S. The same applies to M.V.,S.S., R.M.S., I suppose. Over the years punctuation has changed, sometimes not for the better especially the apostrophe but that/s another thread to be started!

 

[Hugh MacLean]

I think the former is certainly the way it is written now. I tend to agree with Paul when he mentions that punctuation has changed over the years and the full stops dropped.

Rgds

 

[non descript]

Thank you gentlemen for your comments, that seems to make a fair conclusion and given modern trends we will opt for HMS in the same way as we have SS and other abbreviations. As for the missing and or misuse of the apostrophe, that is indeed a whole new ball game. (EEK)

PS. There’s a belief in some quarters that the Apostrophe Tax, which was first introduced in Eastern Europe, is still active; there’ll be hell to pay if he’ll see this comment in its new form, rather than if it’s left out...... (*))

 

[john shaw]

My pet h8s (theirs one,oops two now) are people who abbreviate in txt langwij (3)(4)when not txting(5) and cannot use the krect (6) there/their,where/wear (7,8), let alone the current fad for pluralising incorrectly with apostrophes eg potato's,special offer's etc-- punctuation and spelling appear to be totally random these days. Audition for "Grumpy Old Men" over. (*))

 

[K urgess]

My son was amazed that I could use street texting shorthand being a grumpy old man an' all.
Hasn't anyone who ever heard of speedwriting (miss out the vowels).

Show me a sparkie and I'll sow you an expert texter.
Tks OM fr QSO GN .-.-. (K)

 

[mclean]

H.m.s.

I have a small pennant from the battleship King George V, Presented to me in 1943, (as a two year old) whilst she was anchored off Bangor Bay,Nth. Ireland. To the right of the crest, the name appears as H.M.S. King George V. Regards Colin

 

[jocksenior]

What gets up my nose is the "intelligent" commentators and reporters who insist on putting THE before HMS. During the Trafalgar celebrations every one said THE HMS Victory it's either THE Victory or HMS Victory.

 

[Gulpers]

What gets up my nose is the "intelligent" commentators and reporters who insist on putting THE before HMS. During the Trafalgar celebrations every one said THE HMS Victory it's either THE Victory or HMS Victory.

Jock,
Agree with your sentiment however, I was lead to believe that (using your example) she would be either HMS Victory or Victory but never The Victory. (?HUH)

 

[Santos]

Ray,

I think more often than not when a ship is refered to as ' the ' something or other, the person is being " familiar " rather than " correct ". ie When someone asks , What ship is that ? and you turn around and say ' OH its the Victory or OH its the Cutty Sark.

Its a bit like the wrong use of the word ' boat ' as against ship. In my day, we often used the word ' boat ' as a term of endearment or of familiararity, eg Its a Harrison Boat, or its a Lamport Boat or more famously ' Its a Skin Boat ' ( Banana Boat )

That kind of use of the words was normally used by seamen talking to their own kind, and may probably have been wrongly interpreted and used by shoreside people trying to impress with their knowledge.

Kind regards,

Chris.

 

[Gulpers]

Hmmmm ....

Chris,
Thanks for the comment. Must just be me then! I'm quite happy with the colloquial use of terms and often use "boat" myself when, for example, referring to container ships as "box boats."
Ships are given names and should be called by that name!
How would you react to being called "The Chris" or maybe that well known stadium in your area should be called "The Anfield"?
Ah well, each to their own! (Thumb)
Cheers,

 

[King Ratt]

For Fubar--if you wants some sparkie nostalgia try this website and don't forget your 'phones!
http://users.iconz.co.nz/rwincer/radiowav.htm

If you get really bored try this one
http://www.omnicron.com/~ford/java/NMorse.html

Have fun

di di di di di dah

 

[K urgess]

King Ratt
(Sad) (Sad)

QSL om tks

As to the second one I don't need the practice I've still got my bug key (mechanical of course) on my desk and an Atalanta in the garage. Together with the two (!) ship's bell clocks that remind me where I would rather be every half hour and the radio room clock so that I don't miss silence periods - whoops AS OM - SP Observed - Sad eh!

Unfortunately I live just too far away from Brid to be able to hear the maroons so I never got the chance. Best I could've got would be the local volunteer fire brigade but there was a waiting list and it's too late now. (Sad)
Always admired you RNLI bods. Brave men one and all. (Applause)
Cheers

 

[Santos]

OOPS was only trying to be helpful, must stop it and smack my hand. (Sad)

 

[Gulpers]

OOPS was only trying to be helpful, must stop it and smack my hand. (Sad)

Chris,
Nae problem - it's just a point that was drummed into me as a kid!
I'm still waiting to be shot down in flames by others.
All the best, (*))

 

[non descript]

Chris, Ray et al., I am grateful for all the comments - it all makes sense and certain situations give rise to certain spellings or names. There are always oddities in language and we have "The Ar_senal" whereas we do not have that use of the definite article for others teams (but we did not have The Highbury) - then there was the curiosity that we looked up at the sky and said "Oh there's a 747 and behind it is an Airbus, but wait... look there is Concorde" suggesting somehow that by using it as a singular, there was but one lone Concorde in existence ... Did you ever hear anyone say "Oh there's a Concorde" ? Very odd!

I am coming to the conclusion that modern usage allows us to use Upper Case and no full stops, with just HMS Ship being the best and most reasonable.
Kind regards
Mark

 

[Gulpers]

Chris, Ray et al., I am grateful for all the comments - it all makes sense and certain situations give rise to certain spellings or names. There are always oddities in language and we have "The Ar_senal" whereas we do not have that use of the definite article for others teams (but we did not have The Highbury) - then there was the curiosity that we looked up at the sky and said "Oh there's a 747 and behind it is an Airbus, but wait... look there is Concorde" suggesting somehow that by using it as a singular, there was but one lone Concorde in existence ... Did you ever hear anyone say "Oh there's a Concorde" ? Very odd!

I am coming to the conclusion that modern usage allows us to use Upper Case and no full stops, with just HMS Ship being the best and most reasonable.
Kind regards
Mark

You're to blame Mark - you started all this! (*))

 

[highlandway99]

Hms Or H.m.s.

I wonder if, as a member of the Merchant Service, I may ask a question of the Senior Service. There are quite a few photographs of Royal Naval ships which are given the title, for example, HMS Coventry, but others spell it is H.M.S. Coventry. I believe the former is correct, but is anyone able to give a definitive ruling on this point please.

I BELIEVE THE FORMER TO BE CORRECT,AND THE LATTER TO BE USED WHEN ON SAILORS CAP RIBBONS

 

[non descript]

Highlandway, I am grateful to you, that seems very much the case.

 

[rickles23]

HMS or H.M.S.

I am designing a new web site and I need to know the proper format for the name of Royal Navy ships.

Is it HMS or H.M.S.?

Regards