Warspite's reputation and a ballistic-missile namesake

Clarke's objection to naming a ballistic-missile submarine Warspite is a joke about the name's history. It draws on stories of earlier ships firing without apparent orders and the battleship circling before the German High Seas Fleet in the First World War. The unintended circling bought other ships time. The idea of a ship possessing its own will belongs to the folklore behind the joke. He would retain the admired name on a ship without nuclear ballistic missiles.