Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Royal Sovereign, while another was planned but renamed before being launched:
MV Royal Sovereign, a cross-channel passenger boat owned by the New Medway Steam Packet Company, was requisitioned for use as a troop transport in 1939 and participated in the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940. Renamed HMS Royal Scot, she struck a mine and sank in the Bristol Channel in December 1940. [2]
Ships named Royal Sovereign have earned the following battle honours:
1: Awarded to merchant vessel MV Royal Sovereign
Several ships and one submarine of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Dreadnought in the expectation that they would "dread nought", i.e. "fear nothing". The 1906 ship was one of the Royal Navy's most famous vessels; battleships built after her were referred to as 'dreadnoughts', and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts.
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:
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:
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:
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Newcastle, after the English city of Newcastle upon Tyne:
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:
Nineteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Lion or HMS Lyon, after the lion, an animal traditionally associated with courage, and also used in several heraldric motifs representing England, Scotland and the British Monarchy. Another ship was planned but never completed:
Nine ships and a naval base of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Neptune after the Roman god of the ocean:
Eighteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Eagle, after the eagle.
Four ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Dunkirk, after the Channel seaport of Dunkirk, France:
Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ramillies after the Battle of Ramillies :
The Royal Navy has had ten ships named Swiftsure since 1573, including:
Nine ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Severn after the River Severn:
Four ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Prince George:
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:
Several Royal Navy ships have been named HMS Diamond.