Comments? Thanks.

Part of your dilemma is the nature of the ship and the character. For example, if this is a combat vessel and Robin is in the military or pseudo-military, many people will go by their last name. The two will most definitely be confused.

Perhaps you could offer some type of ship designation. Real world examples would be the USS Echlin or HMS Echlin. Then just always refer to the ship that way... Of course, *you* can always refer to the ship that way in your narrative, but how would a character phrase it? A character in normal dialogue won't always preface the name of their ship by its designation. In which case, just refer to the ship by name (italics). I think that this approach-- short when in dialogue, full designation when use in narrative-- ought to work.

Just a thought.

[This message has been edited by SiliGurl (edited August 21, 2001).]

Lots of ships, military and civilian, go by nicknames. In Mister Midshipman Hornblower the crew referred to the Indefatiguable and "The Indy." The American Battleship Missouri was known as "Big MO" (the abbreviation for that state) and the aircraft carrier Intrepid was known as "The Fighting I."

The nickname for the Kenneth Echlin might reveal something about the way the crew feels about either the ship or its namesake. If they revere the man, they may refer to the ship in heroic terms. They might call it "Dependable Ken" or something like that.

Many crew members will give the chain of command nicknames behind their back. For instance there is a Sargeant we call 'Ensign' because he wants to act like an officer so much.

But a commander would NEVER go by his first name except in rare and private occassions with senior members of his crew.

Have phun!

I'm definately going to use these suggestions: "Red Ken," perhaps, as he was the first to walk on Mars in my future history.

One thing I should have emphasized: it's a privately owned ship, not military. Thus, some people will refer to him as "Robin."

However, do you suppose some other people (the ex-military crewmembers) would probably still call him "Mr. Echlin" or "Chief Engineer Echlin" out of long-ingrained habit?

Similarly, everyone will call the ship's commander "The General" even though he is Air Force retired.

NASA'a Apollo missions each had a Commander, a Command Module Pilot (CMP), and a Lunar Module Pilot (LMP). Today's space shuttles have Commanders, Pilots, Mission Specialists, etc.. I must stress that NASA is a civilian organization, not a military branch!

Many civilian job titles fit smoothly with a name. Doctor, Professor, Officer, Rabbi, President, Governor and Mayor can be tacked onto a name as comfortably as Captain or Commander.