HMS Argo (1758) sea. The frigate was named after the Argo, the ship from Greek mythology upon which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The Navys choice of this name followed a trend initiated in 1748 by John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, in his capacity as First Sea Lord, of using figures from classical antiquity as descriptors for naval vessels. A total of six "Coventry"-class vessels were named in this manner; a further ten were named after geographic features including regions, English or Irish rivers, or towns. In sailing qualities "Argo" was broadly comparable
Colchis the Golden fleece. It was also described as a land rich with gold, iron, timber and honey that would export its resources mostly to ancient Greece. Colchis was populated by Colchians, an early Kartvelian-speaking tribe, ancestral to the contemporary Western Georgians, namely Svans and Mingrelians, as well as the related Lazs. Its geography is mostly assigned to what is now the western part of Georgia and encompasses the present-day Georgian provinces of Samegrelo, Imereti, Guria, Adjara, Abkhazeti, Svaneti, Racha; modern Russia’s Sochi and Tuapse districts; and present-day Turkey’s Rize, Trabzon and Artvin provinces. The kingdom of Colchís, Kolkhís or "Qulḫa"