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What happened to names like Conqueror, Tireless, Perisher, Splendid, Dreadnought, and Sceptre?

From the posted Global-Defence.org article:

The second Astute Class submarine will be S.120 HMS Ambush and she will be followed by S.121 HMS Artful.

It appears to reflect a focus on high technology and stealth rather than brute power. It could be PR or PC, to create an image of a "friendlier" navy....to an outside observer, it could easily look that way.

I tend to prefer the 'brute power' and "cudgel of death" themed names, but the Royal Navy didn't ask me when they were in the process of naming the vessels :-)

It works like this:

The naming of ships is considered by the “Ships’ Names and Badges Committee”. They produce a list which is given to the First Sea Lord, who makes a reccomendation to the Queen. Yes, that’s right. One of the few powers her Maj still has is a veto on the naming of ships. It’s only fair if you think about it. They are after all “HMS” - “Her Majesties Ship”. If they are hers she should at least have a say in naming them! Normally of course she just accepts the reccomendation. The last time a monarch exercised the veto that I know about was during the naval arms race with Germany just before the first world war, when the navy wanted to call a battleship “HMS Oliver Cromwell”, and the then King argued most strenously that he wasnt going to name a major warship after a republican and regicide! In the end he relented and allowed a destroyer to be called “Cromwell”!

Policy for naming ships of the Royal Navy is informed by a number of guiding principles. For example, many ship names have a long and illustrious heritage, and a name with a tradition of Royal Navy use is preferred. Other factors in making a selection include the number of battle honours associated with a name, and whether a name is already classically associated with a particular type of vessel. “Ark Royal” for example, will always be an aircraft carrier (although the first one was a cruiser back before the Napoleonic wars). The RN is very big on reusing names from famous ships of the past. Many such names come from famous battles (on land or sea), great admirals, or intimidating words like Dreadnought or Invincible. These names usually go to the big, impressive ships.

Alternatively, a ship’s name might commemorate historically strong links between the Royal Navy and a particular town or district. In the case of submarines, the first batch of nuclear attack subs was the “Swiftsure” class, followed by the “Trafalgar” class. Then came the diesel electric “Upholder” class, then the Trident boomer “Vanguard” class. Get the pattern? The class beginning with “W” got cancelled, and they skipped X, Y and Z as being far too difficult to get enough decent names from!

“Astute” is a famous submarine from the past. The next one is “Ambush”, then “Artful”, and number four is apparently going to be called “Audacious” (I must admit I like that name best!)