flahr-names

[James A. Landau]

It is interesting to note that back in 1863 the Union Navy anticipated this
thread, purchasing for war service tugboats named "Iris", "Jonquil", and
"Narcissus."

There has never been a USS Buttercup, but in 1863 the Union Navy also
purchased tugs and other ocean-going ships named "Acacia", "Althea",
"Buckthorn", "Cactus", "Camelia", "Carnation", "Clover", "Cowslip",
"Geranium", "Heliotrope", "Honeysuckle", "Hydrangea", "Jasmine", "Larkspur",
"Lilac", "Marigold", "Oleander", "Poppy", "Primrose", "Sunflower", "Sweet
Briar", and "Tulip".  Add to this the Mississippi River gunboat USS Paw Paw.

This is perhaps the world's first apparition of flower power.

1863 perhaps marked the greatest, uh, flowering of names in the history of
the US Navy.  Other ships and river boats "acquired" that year included the
USS Dai Ching, the USS Iron Age, the USS Britannia, the USS Wave, the USS New
Era Number Five, and that most cost-effective warship in US Naval history,
the USS Deluded People Cave In.

       - Jim Landau (at the moment somewhat awash in nautical names)