HMS Edinburgh, named for the Scottish capital, differs from HMS Duke of Edinburgh, named for the royal title, and from the separate name HMS Edinburgh Castle. An 1882 battleship called Edinburgh therefore does not prove that Duke of Edinburgh was used as a capital-ship name. The latter name did appear on an armored cruiser launched in the early twentieth century. This distinction feeds into the persistent debate over CVA-01: Ark Royal is considered more likely than Prince of Wales, which carried difficult political associations in the 1960s and 1970s.
Notable Point · 3:24:15-3:26:29
Edinburgh, Duke of Edinburgh, and the likely CVA-01 name
Exact honorifics matter in Royal Navy naming history, and a ship called Edinburgh does not establish that Duke of Edinburgh was used for the same category of vessel.