Sheffield

The great city of Sheffield (population over 500,000) in northern England had its humble beginning as a settlement of Angles in the late fifth century. Its name is most likely derived from "sheep field".

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Some will remember that in the 1982 war over the Falkland Islands, a British ship was hit by an Exocet missile fired from an Argentinian aircraft. Twenty of the crew were killed and the ship abandoned as fires raged on board. The name of this ship: the Sheffield.

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Before that, the British navy had not lost a ship since World War II. The famous hunting of the German ship Bismarck during that war saw a curious incident. The British aircraft carrier Ark Royal, having detected Bismarck, launched fourteen Swordfish torpedo planes at it. Emerging from cloud cover, the planes found they had total surprise as the ship returned no anti-aircraft fire whatsoever. Only after the eleventh torpedo had been dropped was the reason realized: their target was actually a British ship: the Sheffield. On this occasion the captain was fortunately able to successfully dodge the six torpedoes which came close. Ever after, this occasion of friendly fire was known as "The Sheffield Incident".

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Is it possible that a ship name can be cursed? Perhaps even a warning against man naming an engine of war after so peaceful and pastoral a thing as one of God's sheep fields?
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