Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to mark lewis:   
      
    ak>  BTW, can you clarify the using of "the"   
                                  |use   
      
    ak>  when we speak a ship name?   
         |when we speak of a ship's name   
         |when we speak of the name of a ship   
      
      
             Here's another example.  A "pinafore" is a sort of bib apron   
   commonly worn by young English girls during the 19th century.  "HMS PINAFORE"   
   is a comic operetta about a ship by this name.  Reciting lyrics by memory...   
      
                     We'll give three cheers and one cheer more   
                     For the captain of the Pinafore.   
      
             AFAIC the captain of the Pinafore is like the President of the   
   United States... while various people may have been selected for the position,   
   there's only one such title holder at any given time.  And it's highly   
   unlikely there's any other real or imaginary ship which is officially named   
   "Pinafore"....  :-))   
      
      
             More examples:   
      
                     (in a popular song) the good ship "Lollipop"   
                     the legendary ship "Flying Dutchman"   
                     the royal yacht "Britannia"   
      
      
             You might also find it helpful to look up MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY.    
   With numerous spinoffs from Charles Nordhoff's classic 1932 historical novel   
   there's probably a wealth of commentaries & plot summaries available.   
      
      
             From my CANADIAN OXFORD DICTIONARY:   
      
                      Bounty   
                         a ship of the British navy, part of whose crew mutinied   
                         against their commander, Captain Bligh... [etc.]   
      
   The name of the ship is "Bounty".  In the common parlance, however, we refer   
   to it as "the Bounty".  And as for Captain Bligh... again, we could say   
   "President Obama".  In the common parlance many people prefer to type "the   
   POTUS".  But we then have to rely on context clues to determine which one[s]   
   they mean....  ;-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)