Why is the Royal Navy sometimes referred to as The Andrew?

Answer 1

No-one, including the Royal Navy itself, is quite sure of the origins of this nickname, but one of the following (or maybe all three!) are possible explanations:

1.) Early C19th Royal Navy slang term for a warship - "an Andrew" (but no-one knows why!)...

OR...

2.) "Andrew Miller" - allegedly a particularly "effective" commander of a Press Gang, who "recruited" thousands of sailors into the early C19th Royal Navy... but no records have been found of an Impressment Service officer of this name!

OR...

3.) "Andrew Walker" - supposedly owner of a company that sold massive quantities of general stores, equipment etc to the C19th Royal Navy. But, again, there are no specific records of this - and one would expect there to be if this was, in fact, the case!

So, all a bit of a mystery really. Most likely, "Andrew Miller" and "Andrew Walker" were eponymous, almost mythological, figures who became symbolic entities in the popular culture of the C19th Royal Navy representing in the minds of sailors all those "higher ups" who controlled their lives.