Ursa Minor The tradition of naming the northern constellations "bears" appears to be genuinely Greek, although Homer refers to just a single "bear". The original "bear" is thus Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor was admitted as second, or "Phoenician Bear" (Ursa Phoenicia, hence Φοινίκη, Phoenice) only later, according to Strabo (I.1.6, C3) due to a suggestion by Thales, who suggested it as a navigation aid to the Greeks, who had been navigating by Ursa Major. In classical antiquity, the celestial pole was somewhat closer to Beta Ursae Minoris than to Alpha Ursae Minoris, and the entire constellation was taken to indicate the
HMS Ursa (R22) refitted for service in the Far East and joined the British Pacific Fleet where she served until 1945. She then returned to the United Kingdom and paid off in 1946. During the War "Ursa" was adopted by the Borough of Hendon as part of "Warship Week". The plaque from this adoption is held by the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. After the Second World War "Ursa" went into reserve at Portsmouth, transferring to the Chatham reserve in 1952. During 1953 and 1954 "Ursa" was converted to a Type 15 anti-submarine frigate with the new pennant number F200.