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 W and Z class was a class of sixteen destroyers of the Royal Navy launched in 1943–1944. They were constructed as two flotillas, with names beginning with "W-" and "Z-", respectively, although, like the preceding U and V class, two of the flotilla leaders were named after historical naval figures. They were known as the 9th and 10th Emergency Flotilla, respectively and served as fleet and convoy escorts in World War II. None were lost during World War II but INS Eilat was sunk during the Israel-Egypt conflict in October 1967 by Egyptian missile boats and the El Qaher of the Egyptian Navy was sunk at Berenice, Egypt on 16 May 1970 by Israeli Air Force aircraft during the War of Attrition.
The River class was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic. The majority served with the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), with some serving in the other Allied navies: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Free French Naval Forces, the Royal Netherlands Navy and, post-war, the South African Navy.
HMS Bramham (L51) was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down in Alexander Stephen and Sons shipyards Govan, Scotland on 7 April 1941. She was launched on 29 January 1942 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 16 June 1942. She was named after the Bramham Moor Hunt and has been the only Royal Navy warship to bear the name. She was adopted by the town of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire during the Warship Week savings campaign of 1942.
The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, replacing the British H-class submarines. As part of the major naval construction for the Royal Navy during the Second World War, the S class became the single largest group of submarines ever built for the Royal Navy. A total of 62 were constructed over a period of 15 years, with fifty of the "improved" S class being launched between 1940 and 1945.
The British C-class submarines were the last class of petrol engined submarines of the Royal Navy and marked the end of the development of the Holland class in the Royal Navy. Thirty-eight were constructed between 1905 and 1910 and they served through World War I.
The first R class were a class of 62 destroyers built between 1916 and 1917 for the Royal Navy. They were an improvement, specifically in the area of fuel economy, of the earlier Admiralty M-class destroyers. The most important difference was that the Admiralty R class had two shafts and geared turbines, compared with the three shafts and direct turbines of the Admiralty M class, but in appearance the R class could be distinguished from its predecessors by having the after 4-inch gun mounted in a bandstand. The Admiralty ordered the first two of this class of ships in May 1915. Another seventeen were ordered in July 1915, a further eight in December 1915, and a final twenty-three in March 1916.
Adrias was a Type III Hunt-class destroyer that was originally built for the Royal Navy as HMS Border but never commissioned. Before her completion, she was loaned to the Royal Hellenic Navy on 20 July 1942 and commissioned as Adrias on 5 August 1942 in order to relieve heavy losses of ships sustained by the Royal Hellenic Navy during the German invasion of 1941 and throughout the war. Adrias took her name from the ancient Greek town of Adria in Italy, at the mouth of the Po river, after which the Adriatic Sea is named.
HMS Drury was a Captain-class frigate, originally commissioned to be built for the United States Navy as an Evarts-class destroyer escort. Before she was finished in 1942, she was transferred to the Royal Navy under the terms of Lend-Lease, and saw service during the Second World War. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named Drury, after Captain Thomas Drury, commander of HMS Alfred in the West Indies in 1795.
HMS Deane was a Captain-class frigate, originally to be built for the U.S. Navy as a Buckley-class destroyer escort. Before she was finished in 1943, she was transferred to the Royal Navy under the terms of Lend-Lease, and saw service during World War II.
HMS Eaglet is a Royal Navy Reserve unit based in Liverpool. She is the main occupant of the Royal Navy Regional Headquarters in Liverpool, Merseyside. The base is also the home to a number of units, including: Royal Marines Reserve Merseyside, Naval Regional Command Northern England, Liverpool URNU, HMS Biter, HMS Charger, Sea Cadet Corps, and the Liverpool Royal Navy and Royal Marines Careers Office.
HMS Calliope is a training centre and 'stone frigate' of the Royal Naval Reserve, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
HMS Arabis was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. The ship was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Arabis. She was transferred to the United States Navy in 1942, serving as USS Saucy. Returned to the United Kingdom in 1945, she was recommissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Snapdragon.
HMS Halsted (K556), ex-Russell, was a Captain-class frigate of the Buckley class of destroyer escort, originally intended for the United States Navy. Before she was finished in 1943, she was transferred to the Royal Navy under the terms of Lend-Lease, and saw service from 1943 to 1944 during World War II.
The second HMS Narborough (K578) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1944 to 1946.
HMS Thornborough (K574), sometimes spelled Thornbrough, was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley class destroyer escort, the ship served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.
The Snake-class ship-sloops were a class of four Royal Navy sloops-of-war built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Though ships of the class were designed with the hull of a brig, their defining feature of a ship-rig changed their classification to that of a ship-sloop rather than that of a brig-sloop.
HMS Titania was a Royal Navy submarine depot ship. Most of those that saw service in the First World War were scrapped in the 1930s. Titania, however, saw service in the Second World War. She was scrapped at Faslane, Scotland, in September 1949.
Edward Arthur Aylmer was an English first-class cricketer and Royal Navy officer. He served in the Royal Navy from 1911–1945, seeing action in both the First World War and the Second World War. Reaching the rank of captain, he commanded several ships and establishments during his career. He also played first-class cricket for the Royal Navy Cricket Club.
United Kingdom