Related Research Articles
Several ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Resolution. However, the first English warship to bear the name Resolution was actually the first rate Prince Royal, which was renamed Resolution in 1650 following the inauguration of the Commonwealth, and continued to bear that name until 1660, when the name Prince Royal was restored. The name Resolution was bestowed on the first of the vessels listed below:
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two columns of opposing warships maneuvering to volley fire with the cannons along their broadsides. In conflicts where opposing ships were both able to fire from their broadsides, the opponent with more cannons firing – and therefore more firepower – typically had an advantage. Since these engagements were almost invariably won by the heaviest ships carrying more of the most powerful guns, the natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time.
Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Vanguard, meaning the forefront of an action or movement:
Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Bristol, after the English port city of Bristol:
Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Triumph. Another was planned, but renamed before being launched:
Five ships and one shore establishment of the Royal Navy have been named HMS President, after the office of president meaning "one who presides over an assembly". In the case of the first two British ships, the name may have applied to the Lord President of the Privy Council.
Thirteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named London, after the city of London. Another has been named HMS Loyal London (1666):
Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Mermaid after the mermaid:
Dreadnought was a 41-gun galleon of the Tudor navy, built by Mathew Baker and launched in 1573. Like HMS Dreadnought of 1906, she was a radical innovation over contemporary ships. When John Hawkins became Treasurer of the Navy in 1577, he had sailed all over the world, and his ideas contributed to the production of a new race-built series of galleons—of which Dreadnought was the second, following Foresight of 1570—without the high forecastle and aftcastle prevalent in earlier galleons. These "marvels of marine design" could reputedly "run circles around the clumsier Spanish competition."
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Bonaventure, and another was planned:
Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Aeolus, after one of a number of figures named Aeolus who appear in Greek mythology:
Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Elizabeth. Most of these ships have been named in honour of Queen Elizabeth I of England:
HMS Dragon was a 38-gun fourth rate of the English Navy, she became part of the Royal Navy after the Restoration, built by the Master Shipwright Henry Goddard at Chatham and launched in 1647. She was the first frigate to be built at Chatham.
President was a 38-gun fourth rate frigate of the Royal Navy, originally built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England by Peter Pett I at Deptford Dockyard, and launched in 1650.
Ten ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Serpent, after the synonym for snake, whilst another two were planned, and one appears to have been a spurious report:
HMS Newcastle was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Joseph Allin the elder at Sheerness Dockyard and launched on 10 March 1704.
HMS Hotspur was a modified Seringapatam-class 46-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built at Pembroke Dockyard and launched on 9 October 1828. She was laid up incomplete at Plymouth in April 1829. In 1859 she was recorded as being a chapel hulk based at HMNB Devonport – possibly moored at Hamoaze. She was recorded again in 1865, at the same location, as a Roman Catholic chapel hulk. She was renamed HMS Monmouth in 1868, and sold in 1902, after the Roman Catholic Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer was opened in Keyham.
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.
