HMS Iris

Last updated September 29, 2021

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Iris after the Greek mythological figure Iris or after the flower by that name. A ninth was planned but renamed before entering service:

HMS Iris was a 28-gun sixth rate, formerly the American USS Hancock. The British captured Hancock in 1777 and renamed her Iris, but lost her to the French in 1781, who sold her in 1784.
HMS Iris (1783) was a 32-gun fifth rate launched in 1783. The Navy lent her to Trinity House in 1803, but reclaimed and refitted her in 1805. She was renamed HMS Solebay in 1809 and was broken up in 1833.
HMS Iris (1807) was a 44-gun fifth rate, formerly the Danish Marie. She was captured in 1807 and sold in 1816.
HMS Iris (1840) was a 26-gun sixth rate launched in 1840 and sold in 1869.
HMS Iris (1877) was an Iris-class second class cruiser launched in 1877 and sold in 1905.
HMS Iris (1915) was an Acacia-class sloop launched in 1915 and sold in 1920.
HMS Iris II was a river ferry acquired by the Royal Navy for use in the Zeebrugge Raid.
HMS Iris (1917) was a railway ferry converted to a "Landing Ship Sternchute (LSS)"
HMS Iris was to have been a Flower-class corvette. She was renamed HMS Coriander before being launched in 1941, and was lent to the Free French Navy that year, being renamed Commandant Detroyat. She served until 1947 and was broken up in 1948.

Battle honours

The ships of this name have several battle honours:

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.

Related Research Articles

Fifteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Enterprise while another was planned:

Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named Warspite. The origins of the name are unclear, although it is probably from the Elizabethan-era spelling of the word 'spite' – 'spight' – in part embodying contempt for the Navy's enemies, but which was also the common name for the green woodpecker, suggesting the 'Warspight' would poke holes in enemy ships' (wooden) hulls. Until 1919 a woodpecker was used as the ships' crest; the official badge was a cannon, although the woodpecker continued to be used on the ships' tompions or gun muzzle plugs. Warspite carries the most battle honours of any ship in the Royal Navy, with the sixth Warspite being awarded fifteen of them.

The Royal Navy has used the name Comet no fewer than 18 times:

Six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Rodney, of which at least the last five were named after the Georgian Admiral George, Lord Rodney. A seventh was planned but never completed:

Thirteen ships of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Surprise or HMS Surprize, including:

Eight ships or submarines of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Anson, after Admiral George Anson:

Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Solebay after the battle of Solebay on 7 June 1672, the first battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Glory, or the French variant HMS Gloire:

Ten ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Berwick, after Berwick-upon-Tweed, a town on the border between England and Scotland:

Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Volage:

Fifteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Ranger

Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Success, whilst another was planned:

Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Pelican, after the bird, while another was planned:

Eighteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Mercury, or HMS Mercure, after the God Mercury, of Roman mythology:

Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Firebrand.

Twenty ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Swan, or the archaic HMS Swann, probably after the bird, the Swan:

Eleven ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Cormorant, after the seabird, the cormorant:

Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hope:

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.