HMS Bellerophon (1786) Admiralty at the time, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, had apparently selected the name from Lemprière's Classical Dictionary, which he kept on his desk. The recently ordered 74-gun ship was thereafter to be named after the Greek warrior Bellerophon who rode the winged horse Pegasus and slew the monster Chimera. The pronunciation proved difficult for the ordinary sailors of the period, and she was widely known by variants, most commonly "Billy Ruffian" or "Billy Ruff'n", although "Belly Ruff One" appears in a satirical 1810 print by Thomas Rowlandson, and "Bellyruffron" in the novel "Poor Jack" by Frederick Marryat. She
Terrible Monster to be, not unlike Chimera, having a spear flung down its throat. It is known by no other name, aside from translation. Allardice, Pamela. "Myths, Gods and Fantasy. A Sourcebook." Dorset: Prism Press, 1990, p. 201. Terrible Monster Terrible Monster is a creature that allegedly attacked Jerusalem in the early 18th century. According to local lore, it was formed of the blood of murder victims and would kill anyone who came near it. The chimerical monster was said to be nearly 50 feet long, with the head of a lion, the beak and talons of an eagle, and the tail