Orion the hunter was an uneasy namesake for a Royal Navy warship. The surviving myths include sexual violence against a woman, his blinding and recovery of sight, and his death while hunting with Artemis on Crete. HMS Orion's participation in the evacuation of Crete gives that mythic geography an unintended echo. Contemporary observers were already complaining that the Royal Navy relied too heavily on Greek mythology for ship names, so the objection was present at the time. A later proposal to give the name to a Leander-class frigate was abandoned, leaving this cruiser as the last Royal Navy ship named Orion.
Notable Point · 51:30-55:13
HMS Orion's contested name and the Crete connection
Orion's mythological namesake exposes the Royal Navy's classical naming culture, while the ship's later role off Crete supplied an uncomfortable historical echo.