RRS Boaty McBoatface

[drdoug]

As the man said, it's an absolutely brilliant name. But the forces of repression are seeking to steal this minor crumb of circus fun from the good people of Britain.

Jo Johnson was not getting it on multiple levels. Firstly, and more boringly, he was seeming to claim it as a Departmental responsibility, on the grounds that the Department for

Comments

[steer]

There's actually no official point at which a boat becomes a ship as far as I'm aware (the old "three masts" rule is obsolete). There's a rule of thumb that a boat can be carried by a ship but a ship cannot be carried by a boat. However this is somewhat confused by the ship shipping ship.

If we ruled that Boaty McBoatface was not allowed to carry lifeboats then it could be a boat. (Some might argue that the "can" in the rule expresses a physical not legal possibility. Others might argue that not carrying lifeboats caused issues significantly more problematic than overturning the Votey McVote.)

[steer]

Also submarines are notably boats not ships so we could simply sink it?

[drdoug]

This is perhaps my least favourite argument in favour of Boaty McBoatface, and despite my enthusiasm for anything that would support that noble cause, I feel I must disavow this proposal.

[drdoug]

Ship-carrying ships are awesome. I think the biggest ships are massive container vessels, which are pretty cool. But the large specialty jobs are even cooler. Like the MV Blue Marlin that can carry an entire Arleigh-Burke class destroyer

[uon]

I find the whole "Serious ship must have serious name for serious scientists to do serious work" thing kind of bizarre. Has Jo Johnson ever met any scientists? In particular, the sort of scientists who'd be prepared to spend months on a boat near the Antarctic?

[drdoug]

Well, no, he hasn't, not really, I'd guess

[drdoug]

I'm also reminded of a short piece of writing from ages ago about what happens to the folk who overwinter in Antarctica, from the pre-Internet days. When they made contact again in the Spring the relief party could hardly understand a word they were saying. They'd had a limited supply of films to watch, and so ended up editing them together for kicks, and then turned that in to an incomprehensible (to outsiders) set of references and in-jokes built on fragments spliced together from porn and Cat Ballou.

[thekumquat]

Exactly. The scientists on the ship will call it Boaty McB no matter what, and I predict many news reports of their discoveries starting "Scientists working in Antarctica on the RSS Wotsit, better known as Boaty McBoatface, have found that..."

[ellemir]

Shortly before local elections and then a referendum seems a really bad time for a government official to choose to ignore the will of the people.
Arguably it could be implied that it would undermine the Governments position on Europe, by discouraging the public from believing that their opinions will be heard, leading to a lower turnout to vote.

I love the name Boaty McBoatface. It brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.