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Charisian ship designations

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Charisian ship designations
Post by Kino   » Sun Dec 12, 2021 12:08 pm

Kino
Midshipman

Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:37 am

I've just read my way through Safehold, and a random thought came to me: what does HMS stand for in Charisian ship names? In British service it stands for Her Majesty's Ship, or His Majesty's Ship when there's a king on the throne, but for most of the books Charis has joint rulers instead of a monarch and a consort. Presumably therefore the navy acts in both their names, so shouldn't the ships be Their Majesties' Ship? Or does the HMS stand for something I missed?
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Re: Charisian ship designations
Post by Cartref   » Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:54 pm

Cartref
Lieutenant (Senior Grade)

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Sounds a reason suggestion to me :)
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Re: Charisian ship designations
Post by Louis R   » Mon Dec 13, 2021 1:40 pm

Louis R
Rear Admiral

Posts: 1298
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Tradition!

If you're an Old Charisian, it is of course His Majesty's Ship.

To a Chisholmian, it would be Her Majesty's Ship

And if you're Zebediahan: 'ats one o' Cayleb's!!

Kino wrote:I've just read my way through Safehold, and a random thought came to me: what does HMS stand for in Charisian ship names? In British service it stands for Her Majesty's Ship, or His Majesty's Ship when there's a king on the throne, but for most of the books Charis has joint rulers instead of a monarch and a consort. Presumably therefore the navy acts in both their names, so shouldn't the ships be Their Majesties' Ship? Or does the HMS stand for something I missed?
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Re: Charisian ship designations
Post by zyffyr   » Mon Dec 13, 2021 3:45 pm

zyffyr
Lieutenant Commander

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Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2016 5:26 pm

Clearly, it is "His and Her Majesties Ship". Unfortunately, the paperwork was all printed with HMS already filled in in large quantities years ago and as a budget saving measure they have decided to use it all up before printing more. As a result they are just pretending for now that the one H actually stands for both.
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Re: Charisian ship designations
Post by Kino   » Thu Dec 16, 2021 4:14 pm

Kino
Midshipman

Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:37 am

Thanks for the replies! I'm convinced by the paperwork explanation - I'm sure the savings will build them another King Haarahld. :D
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Re: Charisian ship designations
Post by Silverwall   » Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:59 pm

Silverwall
Captain (Junior Grade)

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Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2011 12:53 am

It could be worse and follow the example of Austria Hungry! who had the imperial and royal ships Kaiserlich and Konigliche or K u K.

Then combine this with the fact that rulers were both king and emperor simultaneously and you get such wonders as the Kaiserlich and Konigliche ship Kaiserin and Koningen Maria Theresa or the KuK KuK Maria Theresa
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Re: Charisian ship designations
Post by Salisria   » Wed Jun 08, 2022 12:57 pm

Salisria
Lieutenant Commander

Posts: 100
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2022 5:08 am

What's confusing is that all monarchies on Safehold apparently use the HMS designation as well. The only other designation we've seen is COGS. I don't think we ever saw any Siddarmarkian ships, but I hope that if they use a prefix it's RSS (Republic of Siddarmark Ship).

If, as I expect, we see a future Siddarmark-Charis War, we may see Siddarmark's few ships get destroyed by the ICN and learn what prefix, if any, they use.

It would have been nice, but probably confusing to readers, had we seen prefixes such as HMG (His Majesty's Galley) in addition to HMS.
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