Sorry for this random question, but I was wondering if anyone knew (@isabella, @The_Most_Happy @Emperor Constantine @alexmilman @VVD0D95 @etc) how ships in the French Royal Navy (both pre-1789, but particularly between 1815-1848) were named/styled.
For instance, the Austrian/German imperial ships were marked "SMS" for "Seine Majestät and the Italian navy was "NMM" for Nava Marina Militare.
But I can't find what French ships were prefixed (was it whatever the French equivalent of "HMS" "Bateau/Vaisseau de Sa Majesté" (BSM/VSM) or was it something different?)
And then, about naming traditions, most French ships that I can find (easily) are from the Napoléonic or Republican navies. But were the names mythological (like the famous Medusa from Géricault's painting) or religious (like Spain's were usually named after saints, although there were a fair few in the Habsburg navy that had names like the "Saint George" or "Saint Stephen")? Or historical (Charlemagne? Louis le Grand?) Or was it something like the US with the "Arizona", the "Maine", the "Illinois" etc. Or was there no real pattern to it (the British royal navy used to keep names that weren't "problematic", it was how you ended up with a ship called the "Santissima Trinidad" or the "Ça Ira", guess it was something like bragging rights?)
For instance, the Austrian/German imperial ships were marked "SMS" for "Seine Majestät and the Italian navy was "NMM" for Nava Marina Militare.
But I can't find what French ships were prefixed (was it whatever the French equivalent of "HMS" "Bateau/Vaisseau de Sa Majesté" (BSM/VSM) or was it something different?)
And then, about naming traditions, most French ships that I can find (easily) are from the Napoléonic or Republican navies. But were the names mythological (like the famous Medusa from Géricault's painting) or religious (like Spain's were usually named after saints, although there were a fair few in the Habsburg navy that had names like the "Saint George" or "Saint Stephen")? Or historical (Charlemagne? Louis le Grand?) Or was it something like the US with the "Arizona", the "Maine", the "Illinois" etc. Or was there no real pattern to it (the British royal navy used to keep names that weren't "problematic", it was how you ended up with a ship called the "Santissima Trinidad" or the "Ça Ira", guess it was something like bragging rights?)