HMS Racehorse

Last updated April 20, 2023

Nine ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Racehorse:

HMS Racehorse (1757) was an 18-gun privateer captured from the French in 1757. She was on Arctic discovery in 1773. She was renamed Thunder (and re-classed as a bomb vessel) on 24 October 1775. The French captured Thunder off Sandy Hook on 14 August 1778.
HMS Race Horse was the mercantile Hercules that the Royal Navy purchased at Jamaica in 1776, and that the American Andrea Doria captured on 24 December 1776. Surprise's crew destroyed her in 1777 at Delaware Bay to prevent the Royal Navy from recapturing her.
HMS Racehorse (1777) was a 16-gun sloop purchased in 1777 and shortly thereafter renamed Senegal. The French 74-gun Hector captured her on 14 August 1778. The French renamed her Sénégal. Zephyr recaptured her on 2 November 1780 after an engagement that lasted five hours and in which the French lost 12 killed and 28 wounded, while the British lost two killed and four wounded.^[1] The Royal Navy took her back into service as HMS Senegal. Senegal was at Gorée being repaired when she caught fire and exploded on 22 November, with the loss of captain and 22 men.^[2]^[3]^[4]
HMS Racehorse (1778) was a 10-gun schooner purchased in 1778. She was wrecked in 1779 at Beachy Head.
HMS Racehorse (1781) was a 16-gun sloop launched in 1781. She was broken up in 1799.
HMS Racehorse (1806) was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in February 1806. She was wrecked in 1822 off the Isle of Man.
HMS Racehorse (1830) was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1830. She became a coal hulk in 1860 and was sold in 1901.
HMS Racehorse (1860) was a wood screw gunvessel launched in 1860. She was wrecked in 1864 near Yantai in China.
HMS Racehorse (1900) was a Greyhound-class destroyer launched in 1900. She was sold in 1920, resold, and broken up in 1921.
HMS Racehorse (H11) was an R-class destroyer launched in 1942. She was sold in 1949.

Citations

↑ "No. 12169". The London Gazette . 10 March 1781. p. 2.
↑ Demerliac (1996), p.71, #446.
↑ "No. 12169". The London Gazette . 10 March 1781. p. 2.
↑ Hepper (1994), p.60.

Related Research Articles

Ten ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS York after the city of York, the county seat of Yorkshire, on the River Ouse.

Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Hussar, after the hussar.

Ten ships of the Royal Navy have carried the name HMS Spitfire, while an eleventh was planned but renamed before entering service. All are named after the euphemistic translation of Cacafuego, a Spanish treasure galleon captured by Sir Francis Drake.

Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Active or HMS Actif, with a thirteenth announced:

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

Thirteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Delight:

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

Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Alert, while another was planned:

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

Fourteen ships and one shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Merlin, after Merlin, the wizard in Arthurian legend :

At least four ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Port Royal, after the British naval base Port Royal in Jamaica:

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

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

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

Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sandwich, either after the English seaside town of Sandwich, or one of the holders of the title Earl of Sandwich, particularly Vice-Admiral Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, or First Lord of the Admiralty John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. A seventh ship was planned, but never completed:

There have been twelve ships of the Royal Navy that have been named HMS Flying Fish, after the Flying Fish.

Thirteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Bonetta:

Two vessels that served the Royal Navy have been named Senegal:

HMS Ceres was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1777 for the British Royal Navy that the French captured in December 1778 off Saint Lucia. The French Navy took her into service as Cérès. The British recaptured her in 1782 and renamed her HMS Raven, only to have the French recapture her again early in 1783. The French returned her name to Cérès, and she then served in the French Navy until sold at Brest in 1791.

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.

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.

[1] "No. 12169". The London Gazette . 10 March 1781. p. 2.

[2] Demerliac (1996), p.71, #446.

[3] "No. 12169". The London Gazette . 10 March 1781. p. 2.

[4] Hepper (1994), p.60.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]