The German Dreadnought Kaiserin

From the birth of the Dreadnought to the period immediately after the end of World War I.
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RF
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The German Dreadnought Kaiserin

Post by RF »

Is the Kaiserin the only dreadnought ever given a name of the female gender?
I am aware of the RN having ships called Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, but these names were used as a masculine diminutive, whereas Kaiserin has no actual military semblance that I am aware of.
If indeed there is no military semblance then presumably it is or was a departure of the Germans from naming their ships after military commanders and more distant military hereos such as Frederick the Great, what would the reason be for that?
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Re: The German Dreadnought Kaiserin

Post by Tiornu »

I don't understand what you're asking.
The British had a few female names, and the Russians also used a couple.
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Gary
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Post by Gary »

Hi RF.

I'm a bit puzzled too.
Kaiserin was the wife of the Kaiser and so there was nothing wrong in naming a vessel after her.
Queen Mary was the wife of George V and thus the battlecruiser that died at Jutland bore her name.

Off the top of my head, HMS Erin was another (British) female name.
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Post by iankw »

Hi Gary

Off the top of my head isn't Erin a reference to Ireland, from the dim and distant past? Not that that explains it use in any way.

I think RF means the Germans don't seem to have used female names for ships. I am sure he will clarify what he means momentarily.

Ian
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Post by RF »

iankw wrote:
I think RF means the Germans don't seem to have used female names for ships. I am sure he will clarify what he means momentarily.

Ian
This is indeed my point - the empress was only the consort of the Kaiser and not the reigning monarch in her own right.

War being seen as a male preserve - particulary in Germany - it seems unusual in using feminine titles for an instrument of battle, not very macho.
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Post by RF »

iankw wrote:
Off the top of my head isn't Erin a reference to Ireland, from the dim and distant past? Not that that explains it use in any way.

Ian
Or the Isle of Man?
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Post by iankw »

There is indeed a Port Erin on the Isle of Man, although I haven't delved into it very deep. I also noted a Wiki reference to Erin as "a romatic name for Ireland used by 19th century poets....", I couldn't follow that up because everytime I open Wiki it crashes my puter!!!

So it's either or for that one.

Ian
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Post by Tiornu »

Erin is Ireland.
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Post by MichaelC »

The battlecruiser Princess Royal was completed the year before Kaiserin.
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Post by Tiornu »

Kaiserin Augusta was completed a couple decades before Kaiserin.
Victoria Louise
Charlotte
Irene
Carola
Marie
Olga
Elisabeth
These were all sizeable vessels.
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Ulrich Rudofsky
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Post by Ulrich Rudofsky »

to add some more names of "female" ships/boats in the Kaiser's Navy:
Amazone
Ariadne
Alice Roosevelt
Freya
Herta
Kaiserin Auguste
Koenigin Luise
Niobe
Nymphe
Undine
Alexandrine
Victoria Luise

oh I forgot Medusa, Elisabeth, and Loreley

I can't think of any WWII Kriegsmarine ships with female names (Nymphe II was a floating AA battery ex Tordenskjoeld)
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Post by iankw »

Why would the Kaiser's navy have a "Alice Roosevelt"? I'll bet it's an obvious answer!!

Ian
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Ulrich Rudofsky
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Post by Ulrich Rudofsky »

I don't know the whole story, but the Kaiser and Teddy Roosevelt were fond of each other. Teddy's daughter Alice ("Princess Alice or the wild animal in good clothes) christened the Kaiser Willi's yacht METEOR (there were 5 SMY Meteors). http://www.scripophily.net/toshconewyo1.html
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Post by iankw »

Thanks Ulrich.

Sorry not to get back to you earlier, after a week trying to come to terms with XP I finally went back to 98SE - so I've been offline for a while.

Cheers, Ian.
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Post by RF »

Ulrich Rudofsky wrote:
can't think of any WWII Kriegsmarine ships with female names (Nymphe II was a floating AA battery ex Tordenskjoeld)
But some WW2 German ships did have American and Latin American place names, such as Tacoma, Portland, Niagara, Rio de Janeiro and of course Bismarck!
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