Ursa Major do not have long tails, and Jewish astronomers considered Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid instead to be three cubs following their mother, while the Native Americans saw them as three hunters. Noted children's book author H. A. Rey, in his 1952 book "The Stars: A New Way to See Them," () had a different asterism in mind for Ursa Major, that instead had the "bear" image of the constellation oriented with Alkaid as the tip of the bear's nose, and the "handle" of the Big Dipper part of the constellation forming the outline of the top of the bear's head and
HMS Ursa (R22) Ltd, commissioning in November of that year under the command of Commander Sam Brooks, DSC RN, as a member of the 5th Frigate Squadron. She spent the first half of 1962 in the Mediterranean, returning to the UK in June 1962. In January 1963, while on exercises near Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, in support of the submarine service, she collided with the destroyer . "Ursa" suffered a damaged bow, while "Battleaxe" suffered more consequentially, being struck athwartships. As luck would have it the crew from the forward mess deck most heavily damaged on "Ursa" were on