Designated names

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#1

The British tend to prefer names for their equipment while Americans seem to go for their designated numbers.

I have often wondered who dreams up some of the the themes. For example:

Armoured vehicles - Saladin, Saracen, Scimitar, Scorpion, Ferret (Ferret?..Eh?..where did that come from?).

Tanks - Churchill, Cromwell, Comet, Centurion and Conqueror, Chieftain, Challenger.

Planes - Manchester and Lancaster. Dakota and Hercules. Hurricane Typhoon, Meteor, Lightning, Tornado, Typhoon(again). Valliant, Victor and Vulcan.

How do these names come about, and does anyone know of any other themes?

#2

The US Navy before and during WWII named battleships after states, cruisers after cities in the United States, aircraft carriers after battles or famous ships of the past, submarines after species of fish, destroyers after deceased distinguished officers and men of the Navy and Marine Corps and civilians who had been of service to the Navy, gunboats and frigates after small cities, yachts after precious stones, minesweepers after birds and action nouns and adjectives, motor torpedo boats (PT boats) by their numbers (ie: U.S.S. PT-109), and hospital ships names such as Relief, Solace, Comfort, Hope, Mercy, Bountiful, Samaritan, Refuge, etc.

US Army helicopters - named mostly for Native American tribes such as Kiowa, Iroquois, Sioux, Chinook, Shawnee, Osage, Cayuse, Chickasaw, Apache, and Blackhawk with some exceptions such as the Cobra and Jolly Green Giant.

US Army tanks - names of American Generals such as Stuart, Lee, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Patton, and Abrams.

#3

“The British tend to prefer names for their equipment while Americans seem to go for their designated numbers.”

American aircraft are given both numbers and names, aren’t they. I’m thinking of P-51 Mustang, B-24 Liberator, etc.

JT

#4

I think that 32Bravo is correct concerning armored vehicles, but you are correct concerning aircraft. Although with aircraft, the British sometimes designated them with different names from their American counterparts. A couple of examples being the USAAF’s Curtiss P-40 Warhawk vs British Commonwealth air forces’ Tomahawk and Kittyhawk and US Navy’s Grumman F4F Wildcat vs British Fleet Air Arm’s Martlet.

For armored vehicles - an example - the 105mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 in US service was designated the 105mm SP Gun, Priest in British service.

Curtiss P-40
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-40

Warhawk was the name the United States Army Air Corps adopted for all models, making it the official name in the United States for all P-40s. British Commonwealth air forces gave the name Tomahawk to models equivalent to the P-40B and P-40C, and the name Kittyhawk to models equivalent to the P-40D and all later variants.

F4F Wildcat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F4f

The Grumman F4F Wildcat was an American carrier-based fighter that began service with both the United States Navy and the Fleet Air Arm in 1940. Although first used in combat by the British in Europe, the Wildcat would become the primary carrier fighter for the first year and a half of the United States Navy’s involvement in World War II in the Pacific Theater. The FM Wildcat, an improved version built by General Motors, remained in service throughout the remainder of the war on escort carriers, where larger and heavier fighters could not be used.

…U.S. Navy orders followed as did some (with Wright Cyclone engines) from France; these ended up with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm after the fall of France and entered service on the 8 September 1940. These aircraft, designated by Grumman as G-36A, had a different cowling from other earlier F4Fs and fixed wings, and were intended to be fitted with French armament and electronics following delivery. In British service initially the aircraft were known as the Martlet I, but not all Martlets would be to the exact same specifications as U.S. Navy aircraft. All Martlet Is featured the four .50-caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns of the F4F-3 with 450 rounds per gun. The British directly ordered and received a version with the original Twin Wasp, but again with a modified cowling, under the manufacturer designation G-36B. These aircraft were given the designation Martlet II by the British. The first 10 G-36Bs were fitted with non-folding wings and were given the designation Martlet III. These were followed by 30 folding wing aircraft (F-4F-3As) which were originally destined for the HAF, which were also designated Martlet IIIs.[23][8] On paper the designation changed to Marlet III(A) when the second series of Martlet III was introduced.

M7 Priest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Priest

The 105mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle produced during World War II. It was given the official nickname Priest in British service, due to the pulpit-like machine gun ring and following on from the Bishop self propelled gun, the full designation when in British service was 105mm SP Gun, Priest. This developed into a tradition of naming self-propelled guns after ecclesiastic titles with the Sexton and Abbot.