The renaming of HMS Agincourt is sinking our heritage to solve a problem that doesn’t exist
28 January 2025, 06:30
The decision to rename the Royal Navy’s HMS Agincourt to HMS Achilles has sparked considerable debate, and rightly so. It feels like an unnecessary act of self-censorship, bending over backwards to avoid offending French sensibilities over a battle fought more than 600 years ago.
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It’s not just a pointless gesture, it’s one that reflects poorly on how we view our own history and relationships with allies.
Agincourt is one of those moments in British history that symbolises ingenuity, resilience, and triumph against the odds, which is why I am guessing the boat was named that, (and as a good friend who was a submariner constantly reminds me, it's a boat not a ship, a ship is just a target! - no, me either).
Whether it was Henry V’s rousing speech or the legendary skill of English longbowmen, the Battle of Agincourt is a part of our national heritage.
To decide that this name is somehow too provocative, especially to the French—our allies who are certainly not stewing over medieval grievances—is absurd.
Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is entirely correct: if this renaming is truly about not upsetting the French, it suggests a “pathetic grasp of foreign policy”.
France is one of our closest military partners; we have countless shared operations, treaties, and mutual respect. Do we honestly think a submarine’s name is going to disrupt that relationship?
It’s insulting to the French to imagine they’d care, and it’s insulting to us to erase part of our history to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
If this is the road we’re going down, what’s next? Waterloo Station must be a constant source of irritation for the French, so should we rename it while we’re at it?
The two-fingered salute, supposedly linked to English archers at Agincourt, might also have to be retired to avoid any unintended offence (or intended offence to be fair).
Perhaps we should rebrand the RAF’s iconic 617 Squadron, the Dambusters, while we’re in the mood for rewriting history.
What makes this renaming even more baffling is the irrelevance of it all. This is a submarine that most people had no idea existed and that even fewer will ever encounter.
The vast majority of the public would not have batted an eyelid at the name Agincourt. Renaming it Achilles is not a tribute to history but a capitulation to imagined sensitivities.
If anything, it risks undermining the very sense of pride and tradition that naval naming conventions are supposed to uphold.
HMS Achilles is, of course, a valid name with its own history. But let’s not pretend this decision is about honouring naval legacy. It reeks of political correctness—a need to sanitise and smooth over every perceived edge, even when no one has asked us to.
The Royal Navy has a proud tradition of commemorating historical victories, not erasing them.
HMS Agincourt should have been allowed to join that legacy, not sunk by craven attempts to rewrite the past in the name of diplomacy that doesn’t even need mending.
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