Bookmarked For Later Referral

I've used this resource before, but never talked about it specifically. The FAQ page at the Naval Historical Center website contains some of the best information on questions you might have about anything Navy related. From submarine losses and accidents to submarine battle flags (and even some non-sub related topics) this site is a good starting point for any research.

I surfed over there today because of a very informative post over at Rontini's BBS on the naming of submarines throughout history. Some excerpts:

"The naming of submarines for “fish” or “denizens of the deep” as some kind of ‘traditional naming’ is a myth. Of the first eight commissioned submarines in the US Navy, one is named for a person (Holland), one is named for a snake (Adder), and one is named for footware (although it is most likely “water moccasin”) (Moccasin). Then there is the B-Class named for snake, shellfish and spider. We have named 358 submarines for fish or fish types and just over 300 for non fish, including people (which include those named for not US citizens.), cities, states, and other animals including mammals, snails and shelfish and undersea inverterbrates. "Many boats (126) never in their commissioned lifetime carried a name only a letter number designation. This practice was carried forth from 1903 to 1920 and included the A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, L, M, N, O, R and S classes."

Much of the information from the post by "oldsubs" is taken from this FAQ at the NHC website.