Boaty McBoatface

About

RRS Boaty McBoatface is a proposed name for the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)'s state-of-the-art polar research vessel currently under construction for the British Antarctic Survey, which is scheduled to begin in 2019. Upon the submission of the entry by British radio presenter James Hand to NERC's "Name Our Ship" online contest in March 2016, the irreverent proposal quickly drew a massive backing on the social media and ultimately emerged as the people's choice for the name of the vessel, as well as inspiring a variety of similar-sounding names.

Origin

On March 17th, 2016, the British scientific research agency NERC launched an online crowdsourced contest to name its newly commissioned 129-meter long polar research vessel--the largest and most advanced British royal research vessel to date. Shortly after the launch of the Internet poll, the website was promptly raided by pranksters suggesting a variety of goofy names, most notably RRS Boaty McBoatface as suggested by former BBC presenter James Hand.

Precursors

Prior to the sensational rise of "Boaty McBoatface" and the subsequent trend that ensued, there have been several precedents of comparable nature, including "Mister Splashy Pants" for the unnamed whale tracked by Greenpeace in 2007 (shown below, left) and "Hooty McOwlface" for an owl sponsored through the "Adopt-A-Bird" program in 2012 (shown below, right).

Notable Developments

RRS David Attenborough

On May 6th, 2016, the NERC announced that the science vessel would be dubbed the RSS David Attenborough, after the renowned broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough. This was the 5th most popular choice according to the results of the poll, with less than 9% of the votes that "Boaty McBoatface" received. As a concession, it was also announced that the small remote-controlled submersible aboard the RRS David Attenborough would be named "Boaty".

Online Reaction

The closing of the poll and selection of the vessel's name was met with mixed reactions online. A Change.org petition was also started for Sir David Attenborough to change his legal name to "Boaty McBoatface" in honour of the research ship being named after him. As of May 8th, 2016, the petition has over 2,300 signatures, and requires less than 200 more to be sent to the BBC. James Hand, who originally suggested the idea of "Boaty McBoatface" took to Twitter to express his approval of the name.

My view on #BoatyMcBoatface living on! Won't be saying anything else, so please contact NERCscience</a> for more. <a href="https://t.co/NtHJyfeMRc">pic.twitter.com/NtHJyfeMRc</a></p>&mdash; James Hand (JamesHand) May 6, 2016

Spread

On March 22nd, 2016, a few days after the NERC's ship-naming contest went viral, The Daily Telegraph journalist Harry Wallop tweeted a photograph of an LED-display sign reading "Trainy McTrainface" on the side of a British Rail South West train, which garnered more than 1,235 likes and 1,449 retweets.

That same day, the United States Air Force (USAF) launched an online contest to field suggestions for the proposed name of the B-21 bomber aircraft from the members of the USAF, which led to a number of irreverent suggestions like "Bomby McBombface" and "Stealthy McHidden."

On March 28th, The board of Austin Independent School District (AISD) in Texas passed a motion to rename one of its schools, Robert E. Lee Elementary School, once named in homage to the general of the Confederate States of America and now questioned in the aftermath of the Charleston church shooting and the subsequent debate on the Confederate flag. During the nomination process, which began on March 29th and ended on April 15th, a number of goofy-sounding suggestions likely influenced by Boaty McBoatface were submitted, the highlights of which were eventually reported on by Fox 7 (shown below), including Schoolie McSchoolface.

Horsey McHorseface

On April 15th, Australian horse trainer Bjorn Baker of Sydney's Warwick Farm racecourse named his newly acquired two-year-old gelding "Horsey McHorseface" as a humorous nod to Boaty McBoatface.

Boaty McBoatface Explores Antarctic

On March 13th, 2017, it was announced that the drone accompanying the RRS David Attenborough, named Boaty McBoatface in honor of the competition, would be embarking on its first mission sometime in the following two years.^[21] McBoatface's goal will be to explore the Antarctic at depths never before reached by science. Because of the depth and climate, professor Russell Wynn of National Oceanography Center warned that McBoatface will face danger and may not survive its missions.

Ferry McFerryface

On November 13th, 2017, the New South Wales Public Transport Facebook^[22] page announced that a new ferry in Sydney, Australia would be named Ferry McFerryface after winning a voting contest with over 15,000 suggestions (shown below).

That day, a post about the contest was submitted to /r/nottheonion,^[23] where it received more than 59,300 votes (81% upvoted) and 1,900 comments within 24 hours. Meanwhile, the Australian radio station 2GB^[25] reported that the Maritime Union of Australia staff were "furious" about the new name. Meanwhile, the Sydney Live Twitter^[24] feed reported that the union would "refuse to man the Ferry McFerryface vessel" until the name was revised (shown below).

Climate Change Discovery

On June 17th, 2019, The Telegraph^[26] reported that Boaty McBoatface had completed research in the Antarctic, discovering that "increasingly strong winds in the Antarctic are causing cold water at the bottom of the ocean to mix with warmer water from the middle levels. That, in turn, is causing overall ocean temperatures to rise, which contributes to rising sea levels."^[28] The AV Club lamented "The sad fact is, though, that Twitter and the majority of publications--this one included--would not be talking about this discovery had it not been made by an unmanned submarine with a very dumb and bad name." That day, a Twitter Events^[27] page was created about the news story. User @mikalapaula tweeted "I’d expect nothing less from this genuine international hero," gaining over 60 retweets and 350 likes (shown below, left). User @steveschale wrote "Some of us knew from the beginning that Boaty McBoatface was destined for greatness," gaining over 540 retweets and 1,800 likes (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References