TOWN hall chiefs have leapt to the defence of Bolton's adopted warship HMS Beaver denying its name is "soft." The Beaver has been at the centre of a row about the naming of fighting ships. The crew of another warship HMS Brave protested in a letter to Navy News that naming ships after "fluffy animals" was lowering morale and done as an act of political correctness.

The sailors of HMS Brave described themselves as coming from one of the very few ships that sounded "as hard as nails."

They added: "Many would want to skirt around the fact that the Navy actually has anything to do with fighting.

"We feel that if we are required to go to war, the least we can expect is to head off with the advantage of sounding well hard."

Among the names the sailors approved of were Boxer, Iron Duke, Dominant, Defender, Enforcer, Emperor and Endeavour.

But today Cllr Cliff Morris, chairman of Bolton's civic affairs sub committee, hit back: "The name Beaver is not soft and we are very proud of it.

"The Beaver is not just a furry animal, it is very hard working and the Beaver is a very hard working ship, so it is appropriate."

And a Royal Navy spokesman also defended the name.

He said: "We dispute the contention that any of the names of Her Majesty's ships currently in use are soft."

He added that when names are chosen, all aspects are taken into account including "historical significance, civic connections as well as the obvious military resonance."

And the BEN can reveal that the name of HMS Beaver is not new.

There have been 10 others with that name, dating back to the 17th century.

The present type 22 frigate was launched in 1982 and is 5,000 tons of a fighting machine which runs at a maximum speed of 30 knots.

It has an awesome display of weapons which has included Exocet missile launchers, two Sea Wolf anti missile systems and Stingray torpedoes.

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