Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Royal Oak, after the Royal Oak in which Charles II hid himself during his flight from the country in the English Civil War:
Ships named Royal Oak have earned the following battle honours:
Several ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Resolution. However, the first English warship to bear the name Resolution was actually the first rate Prince Royal, which was renamed Resolution in 1650 following the inauguration of the Commonwealth, and continued to bear that name until 1660, when the name Prince Royal was restored. The name Resolution was bestowed on the first of the vessels listed below:
Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Vanguard, meaning the forefront of an action or movement:
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.
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ajax after the Greek hero Ajax:
Five ships of the Royal Navy have been called HMS Agincourt, named after the Battle of Agincourt of 1415, and construction of another was started but not completed.
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name Renown, whilst three others have borne the name at various stages in their construction:
Thirteen warships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Revenge:
Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Triumph. Another was planned, but renamed before being launched:
Eight ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Centurion, after the centurions of ancient Rome. A ninth ship was planned but never built. Ships
Six ships and two shore establishments of the Royal Navy have been called HMS Temeraire. The name entered the navy with the capture of the first Temeraire from the French in 1759:
Four ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Bellerophon after the hero Bellerophon in Greek mythology, whilst another two were planned:
Eighteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Eagle, after the eagle.
Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ramillies after the Battle of Ramillies :
Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Queen. It is one of the oldest ship names of the Royal Navy dating from the time of Henry III of England.
The Royal Navy has had ten ships named Swiftsure since 1573, including:
Fifteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Chatham after the port of Chatham, Kent, home of the Chatham Dockyard.
HMS Royal Oak was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Jonas Shish at Deptford and launched in 1674. She was one of only three Royal Navy ships to be equipped with the Rupertinoe naval gun. Life aboard her when cruising in the Mediterranean Sea in 1679 is described in the diary of Henry Teonge.
Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Assistance: