<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>Perhaps we've gone overboard on this topic ?
<BR>(Though I confess my curiosity is piqued by
<BR>the euphonious USS Deluded People Cave In.)
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>In a message dated 6/21/2001 5:45:00 PM Central Daylight Time,
<BR>JJJRLandau@AOL.COM writes:
<BR>
<BR>
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">It is interesting to note that back in 1863 the Union Navy anticipated this
<BR>thread, purchasing for war service tugboats named "Iris", "Jonquil", and
<BR>"Narcissus."
<BR>
<BR>There has never been a USS Buttercup, but in 1863 the Union Navy also
<BR>purchased tugs and other ocean-going ships named "Acacia", "Althea",
<BR>"Buckthorn", "Cactus", "Camelia", "Carnation", "Clover", "Cowslip",
<BR>"Geranium", "Heliotrope", "Honeysuckle", "Hydrangea", "Jasmine", "Larkspur",
<BR>"Lilac", "Marigold", "Oleander", "Poppy", "Primrose", "Sunflower", "Sweet
<BR>Briar", and "Tulip". Add to this the Mississippi River gunboat USS Paw Paw.
<BR>
<BR>This is perhaps the world's first apparition of flower power.
<BR>
<BR>1863 perhaps marked the greatest, uh, flowering of names in the history of
<BR>the US Navy. Other ships and river boats "acquired" that year included the
<BR>USS Dai Ching, the USS Iron Age, the USS Britannia, the USS Wave, the USS
<BR>New
<BR>Era Number Five, and that most cost-effective warship in US Naval history,
<BR>the USS Deluded People Cave In.
<BR>
<BR> - Jim Landau (at the moment somewhat awash in nautical names)
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