List of spacecraft in the Culture series

This is a list of spacecraft found in the Culture novels and short stories by Iain M. Banks. Most ships in this list are members of The Culture, the hybrid society featured in many of these novels. In this setting, each Culture ship, and some others, is also an artificial intelligence with a distinctive personality. Many of these ships are significant characters in the novels.^[1]^[2]

Naming

The machine intelligences called Minds (and, as a consequence, the Culture starships that they inhabit) usually bear names that do a little more than just identify them. The Minds choose their own names, and thus they usually express something about a particular Mind's attitude, character or aims in their personal life. Warship names are similar in retaining the whimsical nature, though the humour tends to be more cynical and threatening.

Banks composed many of the Culture ships' names very carefully to express the attitude of the ship's Mind, and a few names contain puns where both meanings are appropriate to the ship's attitude. A few of the ship names, like variations on "gravitas" are also installments in running gags.

Some ships' names hint at their purpose, but in a way that is not clear until near the end of the book. For example, Sleeper Service is a sleeper agent whose cover is a suspended animation "sleeper service".

Common ship types

Class	Acronym	Description
General Systems Vehicle	GSV	Mobile habitats and / or factory ships, largest Culture ship type. May be home to billions of people.
Medium Systems Vehicle	MSV	Smaller versions of the above. Sometimes former GSVs downgraded as larger GSV classes were developed.
Limited Systems Vehicle	LSV	Smaller versions of the above. Sometimes former GSVs or MSVs downgraded as larger GSV classes were developed.
General Contact Vehicle	GCV	Larger, more capable Contact craft between the size of a GCU and Systems Vehicle; plays similar role to GCUs (see below)
General Contact Unit	GCU	Ambassadors, scouts and light transports; also main warship in peacetime
Limited Contact Unit	LCU	Smaller versions of the above.
General Offensive Unit	GOU	Dedicated main warships
Rapid Offensive Unit	ROU	Dedicated fast warships
Limited Offensive Unit	LOU	Dedicated warships, smaller than GOUs
Demilitarized ROU	(d)ROU	Civilianised ROUs used as courier ships, all or most weaponry removed
Very Fast Picket	VFP	A euphemism for (d)ROU, used in the same role.
Picket Ship	PS	A general euphemism for warships, offensive units or ex-offensive units.
Heavy Lifter	HL	Dedicated materials mover, smaller than GCUs.
Superlifter	SL	Transport craft or tug, a relatively small craft but powerful for its size, described as taking primary military role in early days of Idiran-Culture War before activation of Culture warship manufacture.

Novels

Consider Phlebas

Civilisation	Ship Type	Name	Class	Comments
Culture	GCU	Nervous Energy	Mountain
Culture	GCU	Prosthetic Conscience	n/a
Culture	GSV	Bora Horza Gobuchul	Ocean, later Range	The name chosen by the Mind at the center of events after rescue, upon emplacement within a GSV.
Culture	GSV	Determinist	System	Largest GSV class mentioned in the books.
Culture	GSV	Eschatologist (temporary name)	Ocean	Sent by the Culture to destroy Vavatch orbital.
Culture	GSV	Irregular Apocalypse	n/a
Culture	GSV	No More Mr Nice Guy	n/a
Culture	LSV	Profit Margin	n/a
Culture	ROU	Revisionist	Killer
Culture	ROU	Trade Surplus	Killer
Culture Ulterior	GSV	The Ends Of Invention	n/a
Non-aligned (Ex-Hronish)	Armoured assault	Clear Air Turbulence	n/a	Pirate ship, one of the main settings of the book.
Idiran	Light Cruiser	The Hand of God 137	n/a	Utilized by advance force invading the planet Sorpen to rescue Horza.

The Player of Games

Civilisation	Ship Type	Name	Class	Comments
Culture	Clipper	Screw Loose	n/a
Culture	GCU	Flexible Demeanour	n/a
Culture	GCU	Just Read The Instructions	n/a	Friend of the drone Chamlis Amalk-ney
Culture	GCU	Of Course I Still Love You	n/a	Friend of the drone Chamlis Amalk-ney
Culture	GOU	Limiting Factor	Murderer	Jernau Morat Gurgeh's ship to Empire of Azad. An allegedly demilitarized GOU.
Culture	GSV	Cargo Cult	n/a	Play on the cargo cult concept.
Culture	GSV	Little Rascal	Plate	'Throughput'-ship (ship assembly and crewing).
Culture	GSV	So Much For Subtlety	Range
Culture	GSV	Unfortunate Conflict Of Evidence	n/a
Culture	GSV	Youthful Indiscretion	n/a
Culture	LOU	Gunboat Diplomat	n/a	A Special Circumstances craft; its name is a play on the gunboat diplomacy concept.
Culture	dROU	Zealot	n/a
Culture	Superlifter	Kiss My Ass	River
Culture	Superlifter	Prime Mover	n/a
Azadian	Battlecruiser	Invincible	n/a	Flagship of the Azad Empire.

Use of Weapons

Civilisation	Ship Type	Name	Class	Comments
Culture	GCU	Just Testing	n/a
Culture	dROU	Xenophobe	Torturer
Culture	GCU	Very Little Gravitas Indeed	n/a	Part of the "... Gravitas ..." running gag.^[3]
Culture	GSV	What Are The Civilian Applications?	Continent	Limited edition Prompt subclass. Can outrun a Very Fast Picket.
Culture	GSV	Congenital Optimist	n/a	Rescued Zakalwe from Fohls.
Culture	GSV	Size Isn't Everything	n/a	The GCU Sweet and Full of Grace was constructed aboard this ship.
Culture	GCU	Sweet and Full of Grace	n/a

The State of the Art

Most of the Culture ship names in this collection come from the titles of the chapters in the titular novella; the narrator explains that he has chosen ship names for these titles.

Civilisation	Ship Type	Name	Class	Comments
Culture	GSV	Bad for Business	n/a
Culture	GCU	Arbitrary	Escarpment (middle series)	Produced by a manufactory of the Yinang Orbitals of the Dahass-Khree, known for ships that are "a bit crazy."^[4]
Culture	GCU	Cantankerous	n/a
Culture	GCU	Only Slightly Bent	n/a
Culture	GCU	I Thought He Was With You	n/a
Culture	GCU	Space Monster	n/a
Culture	GCU	A Series Of Unlikely Explanations	n/a
Culture	GCU	Big Sexy Beast	n/a
Culture	GCU	Never Talk To Strangers	n/a
Culture	GCU	Funny, It Worked Last Time...	n/a
Culture	GCU	Boo!	n/a
Culture	GCU	Ultimate Ship The Second	n/a	"Ultimate" means "last"
Culture	GCU	It'll Be Over By Christmas	n/a
Culture	GCU	A Ship With A View*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Ablation*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Arrested Development	n/a
Culture	GCU	Credibility Problem*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Dramatic Exit, Or, Thank you And Goodnight*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Excuses And Accusations*	n/a
Culture	GCU	God Told Me To Do It*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Halation Effect*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Happy Idiot Talk *	n/a
Culture	GCU	Helpless In The Face Of Your Beauty*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Heresiarch*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Just Another Victim Of The Ambient Morality*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Minority Report*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Not Wanted On Voyage*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Perfidy*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Sacrificial Victim*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Stranger Here Myself*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Synchronize Your Dogmas*	n/a
Culture	GCU	The Precise Nature Of The Catastrophe*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Unwitting Accomplice*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Undesirable Alien*	n/a
Culture	GCU	Well I Was In The Neighbourhood*	n/a
Culture	GCU	You Would If You Really Loved Me*	n/a
Culture	GCU	You'll Thank Me Later*	n/a

*Names mentioned in the chapter names of the title novella only. All of them belong to ships produced by the Infracaninophile manufactury in Yinang orbital.

Excession

Civilisation	Ship Type	Name	Class	Comments
Culture	GCU	Different Tan	Mountain
Culture	GCU	Fate Amenable To Change	Escarpment
Culture	GCU	Grey Area (aka Meatfucker)	n/a	Ostracised for non-consensual mindreading of biological individuals, earning it the condemnation of other ships not respecting its chosen name in favor of referring to it as the GCU Meatfucker.
Culture	GCU	It's Character Forming	n/a
Culture	GCU	Jaundiced Outlook	Ridge	Child ship of the Sleeper Service.
Culture	GCU	Problem Child	Troubadour	Early (vs Excession-contemporary) GCU, historical mention. Nominally captained by Zreyn Tramow.
Culture	GCU	Reasonable Excuse	n/a
Culture	GCU	Recent Convert	n/a
Culture	GCU	Tactical Grace	Escarpment
Culture	GCU	Unacceptable Behaviour	n/a
Culture	GCV	Steely Glint	Plains
Culture Ulterior	n/a	Highpoint	n/a
Culture Ulterior	ROU	Shoot Them Later	Gangster	Eccentric and Ulterior AhForgetIt Tendency
Culture	LOU	Attitude Adjuster	Killer
Culture	ROU	Killing Time	Torturer	A pun on a saying that 99% of war is just killing time, while the rest is the killing time.
Culture	ROU	Heavy Messing	Gangster	Possibly a pun on the same phrase in from Glaswegian, or from Ned-ese. Generally if one is said to be "heavy messing" they are considered by an aggrieved party to be interfering or aggravating a situation in which they have little to no stake in.
Culture	dROU	Frank Exchange Of Views	Psychopath
Culture	GSV	Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The	Plate
Culture	GSV	Death and Gravity	n/a	Its name is a play on the adage that only death and taxes are inevitable; "taxes" are replaced with gravity, since the Culture doesn't have taxes (or money).
Culture	GSV	Ethics Gradient	Range
Culture	GSV	Honest Mistake	n/a
Culture	GSV	Limivorous	Ocean
Culture Sabbaticaler	GSV	No Fixed Abode	Ex-Equator	In Britain the term means a 'rough sleeper' or homeless person. Its name is an observation on itself as a moving starship inherently has no fixed abode.
Culture Eccentric	GSV	Quietly Confident, later Sleeper Service	Plate	Known as storage ship for biological persons in stasis. The name Sleeper Service is a pun on sleeping car (transport) and sleeper agent (espionage). It also secretly converts itself to be "mostly engine" so it can move unexpectedly quickly - a parallel to sleeper cars (racing).
Culture	GSV	Uninvited Guest	n/a
Culture	GSV	Use Psychology	n/a
Culture	GSV	What Is The Answer and Why?	n/a
Culture	GSV	Wisdom Like Silence	Continent
Culture	GSV	Yawning Angel	Range
Culture	GSV	Zero Gravitas	n/a	Part of the "... Gravitas ..." running gag.^[3]
Culture	LSV	Misophist	n/a
Culture	LSV	Serious Callers Only	Tundra
Culture	MSV	Not Invented Here	Desert	The Desert-class was originally a GSV that was demoted to MSV as Culture ship sizes grew. The Not Invented Here is also referred to as an actual GSV twice (Genar-Hofoen was told that the NIH was a GSV by Tish, and he subsequently refers to it as a GSV even after knowing that it is now a MSV) and once as an LSV by the author in narration, but it is predominantly (and self-identified as) a Desert-class MSV
Culture	Superlifter	Charitable View	Cliff
Culture	n/a	I Blame My Mother	n/a
Culture	n/a	I Blame Your Mother	n/a
Culture	Cruise Ship	Just Passing Through	n/a
Culture Convertcraft	Main Battle Unit	Full Refund (formerly MBU 604)	Empire	Former Homomdan MBU, now Culture Convertcraft
Zetetic Elench	n/a	Appeal To Reason	n/a	Part of the Stargazer Clan
Zetetic Elench	Explorer	Break Even	n/a	Part of the Stargazer Clan
Zetetic Elench	n/a	Long View	n/a	Part of the Stargazer Clan
Zetetic Elench	Explorer	Peace Makes Plenty	n/a	Part of the Stargazer Clan
Zetetic Elench	Explorer	Sober Counsel	n/a	Part of the Stargazer Clan
Zetetic Elench	n/a	Within Reason	n/a	Part of the Stargazer Clan
Affront	n/a	Kiss the Blade
Affront	n/a	Frightspear	n/a
Affront	Light Cruiser	Furious Purpose	Meteorite
Affront	n/a	Riptalon	n/a
Affront	n/a	Wingclipper	n/a
Affront	n/a	SacSlicer II	n/a
Affront	Battleship	Xenoclast	n/a

Look to Windward

Most of the Culture ship names in this novel are only mentioned in a humorous conversation about ship names in Chapter 11, Absence of Gravitas, and do not represent characters in the novel. The Chelgrian ships are not artificial intelligences like those of the Culture.

Civilisation	Ship Type	Name	Class	Comments
Chelgrian	Cruiser	Winter Storm	n/a
Chelgrian	Temple ship	Piety	n/a
Chelgrian	Temple ship	Soulhaven	n/a
Culture	ROU	Nuisance Value	Torturer
Culture	Superlifter	Vulgarian	n/a
Culture	GSV	Sanctioned Parts List	n/a
Culture	VFP	Resistance Is Character-Forming	Gangster
Culture	OU	All Through With This Niceness And Negotiation Stuff^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Someone Else's Problem^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Lacking That Small Match Temperament^†	n/a
Culture	GCU	Poke It With A Stick^†	n/a
Culture	OU	I Said, I've Got A Big Stick^†	n/a	The small print (spoken softly) is a pun on "Speak softly and carry a big stick."
Culture	n/a	Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	But Who's Counting?^†	n/a	LOU Me, I'm Counting provides the answer
Culture	n/a	Germane Riposte^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	We Haven't Met But You're A Great Fan Of Mine^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	All The Same, I Saw It First^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Ravished By The Sheer Implausibility Of That Last Statement^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Zero Credibility^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Charming But Irrational^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Demented But Determined^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	You May Not Be The Coolest Person Here^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Lucid Nonsense^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Awkward Customer^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Thorough But... Unreliable^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Advanced Case Of Chronic Patheticism^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Conventional Wisdom^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	In One Ear^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Fine Till You Came Along^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	I Blame The Parents^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Inappropriate Response^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	A Momentary Lapse Of Sanity^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Lapsed Pacifist^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Reformed Nice Guy^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Pride Comes Before A Fall^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Injury Time^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Now Look What You've Made Me Do^†	n/a
Culture	n/a	Kiss This Then^†	n/a
Culture	GSV	Lasting Damage	n/a	The Lasting Damage was one of the GSVs that formed the Culture's offensive forces during the early part of the Idiran-Culture War. Later mind-state copied into other ships, it became the Mind of Masaq orbital.
Culture	GSV	Lasting Damage I	n/a	The original Lasting Damage, assumed destroyed but eventually returned.
Culture	GSV	Lasting Damage II	n/a	The recreated backup copy twin of the Lasting Damage.
Culture	GSV	Experiencing A Significant Gravitas Shortfall	Equator	Part of the "... Gravitas ..." running gag.^[3] Also mentioned in Matter.

^†Names mentioned in a humorous conversation about various Culture ships in Chapter 11 of the novel.

Matter

Civilisation	Ship Type	Name	Class	Comments
Culture	MSV	Don't Try This At Home	Steppe
Culture	FP	Eight Rounds Rapid	Delinquent	(d)GOU, now demilitarized and serves as a Fast Picket.
Culture	GCU	Experiencing A Significant Gravitas Shortfall	n/a	Part of the "... Gravitas ..." running gag.^[3] Also mentioned in Look to Windward.
Culture	GCU	It's My Party And I'll Sing If I Want To	Escarpment	Pun on the song It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to, which continues "... You would cry too if it happened to you."
Culture	GCU	Lightly Seared On The Reality Grill	n/a
Culture	GTC	Now We Try It My Way	Interstellar	An ancient ship of now-obsolete General Transport Craft type.
Culture	Superlifter/GCU	Liveware Problem	Stream-class Superlifter, modified Delta-class GCU	Likely a Special Circumstances operative. The phrase is a joke among computer engineers, suggesting that the problem lies with the user.^[5] Destroyed whilst battling a Morthanveld ship which had been taken over by a member of the Iln in the core of Sursamen.
Culture	GCU	Pure Big Mad Boat Man	n/a	An inside joke based upon the language of Ned (Scottish) culture. It would be read/heard as "a pure big, mad boat, man" roughly meaning "a very large and deadly serious boat my good man".
Culture	GCU	Qualifier	Trench
Culture	GSV	Seed Drill	Ocean
Culture	GCV	Subtle Shift In Emphasis	Plains
Culture	GCU	Transient Atmospheric Phenomenon	n/a	Transient Atmospheric Phenomenon has been suggested as an alternate name for a UFO
Culture	LSV	Xenoglossicist	Air
Culture	GCU	You Naughty Monsters	n/a
Culture	VFP	You'll Clean That Up Before You Leave	Gangster-class
Nariscene	Star Cruiser	Hence the Fortress	Comet
Nariscene	n/a	Hundredth Idiot, The	White Dwarf	Chose its name from a Nariscene proverb.
Morthanveld	Cat.5 SwellHull	Fasilyce, Upon Waking	n/a
Morthanveld	Great Ship	Inspiral, Coalescence, Ringdown	n/a	Comparable to a GSV; the name refers to stages in the merger of two black holes.
Morthanveld	Cat.4 CleaveHull	On First Seeing Jhiriit	n/a
Morthanveld	Cat.3 SlimHull	Now, Turning to Reason, & Its Just Sweetness	n/a

Surface Detail

Civilisation	Ship Type	Name	Class	Comments
Culture	GSV	Sense Amid Madness, Wit Amidst Folly	Plate
Culture	ex-LOU	Me, I'm Counting	Hooligan	Another ship in the Culture is called But Who's Counting?
Culture	GCU	Bodhisattva, OAQS	Initially unknown, later Escarpment	Part of Contact's Quietudinal Service (Quietus). Quietus ships added letters OAQS - On Active Quietudinal Service - to their names while they were so employed.
Culture	GSV	Total Internal Reflection	n/a	One of the "Forgotten" Culture ships.
Culture	GCU	Armchair Traveller	Mountain
Culture	FP/(d)ROU	The Usual But Etymologically Unsatisfactory	Psychopath
Culture	n/a	Hidden Income	Interstellar	Type not mentioned in novel, but possibly General Transport Craft (see Matter)
Culture	GOU/PS	Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints	Abominator	Self-categorized as a "Picket Ship"
Culture	FP	Hylozoist	Killer-class	ex-LOU
Culture	FP	No One Knows What The Dead Think	n/a	Formerly known as the GOU Obliterating Angel
Culture	GSV	Pelagian	Equator
Jhlupian	Heavy Cruiser	Ucalegon	n/a	Ucalegon means "a neighbor whose house is on fire"
GFCF	Contact Craft	Messenger Of Truth	Succour
GFCF	Minor Destructor Vessel	Fractious Person	n/a
GFCF	Minor Destructor Vessel	Rubric Of Ruin	n/a
GFCF	n/a	Abundance Of Onslaught	Deepest Regrets	Deepest Regrets-class ships are capital ships and the pride of the GFCF fleet
GFCF	n/a	Vision Of Hope Surpassed	Deepest Regrets	Deepest Regrets-class ships are capital ships and the pride of the GFCF fleet; the Vision of Hope Surpassed is the flagship for all GFCF forces in the area
Nauptre Reliquaria	Bismuth Category	8401.00 Partial Photic Boundary	n/a

The Hydrogen Sonata

Civilisation	Ship Type	Name	Class	Comments
Culture	Ue	Mistake Not…	n/a	The Mistake Not… is of indeterminate ship type and class; it identifies itself as Ue, for Unit (eccentric/erratic). Its full name, which is a private joke amongst other Culture Minds and almost never used, is the Mistake Not My Current State Of Joshing Gentle Peevishness For The Awesome And Terrible Majesty Of The Towering Seas Of Ire That Are Themselves The Milquetoast Shallows Fringing My Vast Oceans Of Wrath
Culture	GOU	Questionable Ethics
Culture	LOU	New Toy
Culture	ROU	Learned Response
Culture	LOU	Caconym	Troublemaker	Apparently the precursors to the Abominator-class; although classed as a LOU, Troublemaker-class LOUs are "nominatively camouflaged". In actuality, they are the pinnacle of Culture warship technology, outclassing all previous GOUs. "Caconym" is Ancient Greek, meaning "bad name".
Culture	MSV	Pressure Drop	Shelf
Culture	GSV	Kakistocrat		home GSV of Mistake Not… "Kakistocrat" is Ancient Greek, meaning "very bad ruler".
Culture	MSV	Passing By And Thought I'd Drop In	Desert
Culture	GSV	Empiricist	System	Described as being big, even by the standards of System Class ships. It is known to include seven Minds, rather than the more usual three.
Culture	ROU	Refreshingly Unconcerned With the Vulgar Exigencies of Veracity	ex-Thug	Fast Picket
Culture	ROU	Value Judgement	ex-Thug	Fast Picket
Culture	LCU	Beats Working	Scree
Culture	GOU	Headcrash	Delinquent	aboard the Empiricist
Culture	GOU	Xenocrat	Delinquent	aboard the Empiricist
Culture	GSV	Contents May Differ	Atmosphere
Culture	GSV	Just the Washing Instruction Chip in Life's Rich Tapestry
Culture	GCU	Displacement Activity	River
Culture	LCU	Anything Legal Considered	Ridge
Culture	Superlifter	Zoologist	Boulder
Culture	GCU	Warm, Considering	Delta
Culture	MSV	A Fine Disregard for Awkward Facts		original home GCU of Warm, Considering
Culture	GSV	Teething Problems		most recent home/contact GCU of Warm, Considering
Culture	VFP	Outstanding Contribution to the Historical Process	ex-Psychopath
Culture	VFP	Rapid Random Response Unit	Troublemaker	Former LOU but now demilitarised
Culture (Culture-Zihdren-Remnanter hybrid)	(ex-)GCU	Smile Tolerantly		The Smile Tolerantly, once an ancient GCU, is now what might best be described as a Culture-Zihdren-Remnanter hybrid. When they learn of it, many of the other ships react with disgust to this hybrid status (amounting to letting another culture mess around with your mind).
Culture	GSV	Unreliable Witness		original home (ex-)GCU of the Smile Tolerantly
Culture	LSV	You Call This Clean?	Blue
Gzilt	IR-HAS cruiser	5Gelish-Oplule*	regimental cruiser	Indefinite Range, High Acceleration/Speed
Gzilt	IR-HVW battlecruiser	7Uagren*	battle-cruiser	Indefinite Range, High Velocity/Weapon-load
Gzilt	IR-FWS battleship	8Churkun*		Indefinite Range, Full Weapon Spectrum
Liseiden	Collective Purposes Vessel	Gellemtyan-Asool-Anafawaya	(First Class)	flagship
Liseiden	Collective Purposes Vessel	Quiatrea-Anang
Liseiden	Collective Purposes Vessel	Laskuil-Hliz
Liseiden	Collective Purposes Vessel	Abalule-Sheliz
Liseiden	n/a	Fulanya-Guang
Zihdren-Remnanter	Ceremonial Representative Carrying Ship	Exaltation-Parsimony III
Zihdren-Remnanter	Adjunct Entity	Oceanic Dissonance
Ronte	n/a	Melancholia Enshrines All Triumph	Interstitial/Exploratory
Iwenick	n/a	Strategic Outreach Element CH2OH.(CHOH)4.CHO		The chemical whose formulation is given in this name is glucose.

Guardian interview

The following ships have not appeared in any books, however they were named by Iain M Banks in an interview with The Guardian.^[3] These ships obtained their names as a result of another (unnamed) involved civilisation criticizing Culture ship naming policy, claiming that such powerful ships ought to have names with a little more gravitas.

Stood Far Back When The Gravitas Was Handed Out
Gravitas, What Gravitas?
Gravitas... Gravitas... No, Don't Help Me, I'll Get It In A Moment...
Gravitas Free Zone
Low Gravitas Warning Signal
Absolutely No You-Know-What

References

↑ Excession review (from a bookseller reviews page of the Waterstone’s bookstore chain, Orpington store. Accessed 2008-03-29.)
↑ "Iain Banks writes books about sex and drugs. Iain M Banks is a sci-fi nerd. Are they by any chance related?" - The Guardian, Tuesday 20 May 1997
↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Iain M Banks Q&A". Guardian. 11 September 2000. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
↑ The State of the Art - Banks, Iain M., 1991
↑ Liveware (from the 'webopedia.com' website. Accessed 2008-06-18.)