The Bourbaki Basin is named after the  collective allonym under which a group of mainly French Mathemeticians wrote and argued their points. The self-proclaimed scribe of the group, Jean Dieudonné, invented many mathematical models by which seafaring vessels are still tested today. 

Many shipyards held "Basins" which served as wet-sandboxes for shipyards testing new and modified designs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Bourbaki