November 05, 2002
Latin In The News

CPO Sparkey (on Sgt. Stryker) reports that one of the huge cargo ships hauling equipment to the Persian Gulf is the USNS Bellatrix. That's Latin for 'female warrior'. The masculine would of course be bellator. I wonder how they came up with the name?

Posted by Dr. Weevil at November 05, 2002 10:48 PM
Comments

Bellatrix is the name of the star Gamma Orionis, the left shoulder of Orion, which is commonly used in navigation. I think that class of ships observes navigational stars as its nomenclature.

Posted by: Fritz Anderson on November 5, 2002 11:55 PM

Yup. See Algol class (SL-7 type) fast vehicle cargo ships (8 ships)

This ship is the second of the name. WW2 Bellatrix

Posted by: Bill Woods on November 6, 2002 03:29 PM