The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service.
HisMajesty's Ship, abbreviated HMS and H.M.S., is the ship prefix used for ships of the navy in some monarchies. Derived terms such as HMAS and equivalents in other languages such as SMS are used.
Six vessels of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Havock, including:
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number. Historically, naval ships flew a flag that identified a flotilla or type of vessel. For example, the Royal Navy used a red burgee for torpedo boats and a pennant with an H for torpedo boat destroyers. Adding a number to the type-identifying flag uniquely identified each ship.
The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side. Its main activity was shipbuilding, but it also diversified into civil engineering, marine engines, cranes, electrical engineering and motor cars.
HMS Linnet was a 16-gun brig, built in 1814 by the Royal Navy at Ile aux Noix, Canada, as Niagara. Renamed Linnet and commanded by Commander Daniel Pring, RN, she served on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. The Americans captured her in 1814 at the Battle of Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh, New York, and took her into service though she never sailed again. She was sold in 1825.
Nine ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Linnet after the linnet, a bird of the finch family:
HMS Queen Charlotte was a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 July 1810 at Deptford. She replaced the first Queen Charlotte sunk in 1800.
HMS Amphion was an Active-class scout cruiser built for the Royal Navy before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she was initially assigned to the First Fleet and became a destroyer flotilla leader in mid-1914. When the war began, her flotilla was assigned to the Harwich Force. While patrolling on the first full day of the war, Amphion and her destroyers encountered and sank a German minelayer, SMS Königin Luise, but not before she had laid many of her mines. While returning from patrolling the following morning, Amphion struck a mine on 6 August 1914 off the Thames Estuary and sank with the loss of 132 crewmen killed. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy to be sunk in the First World War. The wreck site is protected and may not be dived upon without permission from the Ministry of Defence.
Daniel Pring was an officer in the British Royal Navy. He is best known for the part he played in the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.
HMS Constance was a Comus-class steel corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched from Chatham Dockyard on 9 June 1880.
HMS Linnet was originally His Majesty’s revenue cutter Speedwell, launched in 1797, that the Royal Navy purchased in 1806. Linnet captured a number of privateers before the French frigate Gloire captured her in 1813. The French sold or transferred her to the Americans, who operated her as the privateer Bunkers Hill. In March 1814 the British recaptured her, but did not return her to service.
Puissant was built in 1781-82 to a design by Antoine Groignard as a Pégase class 74-gun ship of the line. Her captain handed her over to the British at Toulon on 29 August 1793. She arrived at Portsmouth on 3 May 1794. She then remained there as an unarmed receiving ship, sheer hulk, and flagship until her sale in 1816.
The Linnet class were a class of three small coastal minelayers commissioned into the Royal Navy just before the Second World War.
Admiral John Edward Bearcroft, was a British Royal Navy officer in the early 20th century, who served as Admiral-Superintendent of Contract-built ships in the Clyde district from 1906 to 1911.
HMS Linnet was a Laforey-class destroyer that served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. Launched on 16 August 1913 as HMS Havock, the ship was renamed on 30 September under an Admiralty order to become one of the first destroyers in a class named alphabetically. This convention subsequently became the norm. On commissioning, the vessel joined the Third Destroyer Flotilla and operated as part of the Harwich Force. The destroyer was first commanded by Commander Loftus Jones who named his daughter Linnette after the ship. During the War, the destroyer took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1914, and escorted minelayers on missions to lay mines. It was during one the latter missions that the ship was nearly hit by a gun hurled from the stricken minelayer Amphion. With the cessation of hostilities, the ship was placed in reserve and sold to be broken up on 4 November 1921.
HMS Ringdove was one of three Royal Navy Linnet-class minelayers built in 1938. She saw service as a merchant escort during the Norwegian campaign of World War II and remained in service until she was sold to Pakistan in 1951 to serve as a pilot vessel.
HMS Redstart was one of three Royal Navy Linnet-class minelayers built in 1938. Assigned to the Royal Navy's China Station at the outbreak of World War II, she was scuttled during the Battle of Hong Kong on 19 December 1941 to prevent capture by the invading Japanese. Following the scuttling, its commander, Lt Cdr Henry Charles Sylvester Collingwood-Selby, participated in the defence of the colony where he was later wounded and captured, spending the rest of the war as a POW.
United Kingdom