HMS Helena

Last updated December 25, 2021

HMS Helena has been the name of several British Royal Navy ships, and may refer to:

HMS Atalanta (1775), a 14-gun sloop built in 1775, placed on the sale list in 1779, renamed HMS Helena in 1801 while awaiting sale, and sold in 1802
HMS Helena (1778) was a 14-gun sloop that the Royal Navy purchased in 1778. (She may originally have been a French vessel named Hélene.) The French captured her in September 1778, and took her into service under her existing name, or perhaps as Helene.^[1] HMS Ambuscade recaptured her on 22 June 1779.^[2] A storm drove her ashore on the Dutch coast on 3 November 1796; there were no survivors.^[3]
HMS Helena (1804), an 18-gun sloop launched in 1804 and sold in 1814
HMS Helena (1826), a 10-gun brig-sloop ordered in 1826 but cancelled in 1831
HMS Helena (1843), a 16-gun brig-sloop launched in 1843, hulked in 1861, and sold in 1921
HMS Helena (1915), a drifter requisitioned from 1915 to 1919

Citations

↑ Demerliac (1996), p.71, #448.
↑ "No. 12044". The London Gazette . 28 December 1779. p. 2.
↑ Hepper (1994), p.82.

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Twenty-two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Fortune:

Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sphinx or HMS Sphynx, after the mythical creature, the Sphinx:

Seventeen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Dispatch, or the variant HMS Despatch:

Nine ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Zephyr after Zephyrus, the Greek god of the west wind:

At least four vessels of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Belette.

HMS Swift has been the name of numerous ships of the Royal Navy:

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Nine ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Lily or HMS Lilly:

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.
Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). ISBN 2-906381-23-3
Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.

This article includes a list of ships with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific ship led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended ship article, if one exists.

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[1] Demerliac (1996), p.71, #448.

[2] "No. 12044". The London Gazette . 28 December 1779. p. 2.

[3] Hepper (1994), p.82.

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