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The Royal Navy has used the name Comet no fewer than 18 times:
Eight vessels and one shore station of the Royal Navy were named HMS Grasshopper, named for the grasshopper, a common type of herbivorous insect.
Eighteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Eagle, after the eagle.
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Atalanta or HMS Atalante after the athlete in ancient Greek mythology.
Fifteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Ranger
Nine ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Falmouth, after the town of Falmouth:
Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Scourge :
Four ships of the British Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Scipio after the Roman general Scipio Africanus:
Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Alert, while another was planned:
Twenty-two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Falcon. They are named after an exceptionally fast bird of prey.
Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Weazel or HMS Weazle, archaic spellings of weasel, 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:
Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Viper, or HMS Vipere, after the members of the Viperidae family:
Psyché was a 36-gun vessel built between February 1798 and 1799 at Basse-Indre (Nantes) as a privateer. As a privateer she had an inconclusive but bloody encounter with HMS Wilhelmina of the Royal Navy, commanded by Commander Henry Lambert, off the Indian coast in April 1804. The French then brought her into service in June 1804 as the frigate Psyché. In February 1805 she encountered San Fiorenzo, under the command of the same Henry Lambert, now an acting captain. After a sanguinary engagement of over three hours, Psyché surrendered. The British took her into service as HMS Psyche. In British service she captured several prizes and took part in the capture of Mauritius and in an operation in Java. She was broken up at Ferrol in 1812.
Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hope:
Three ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Surinam, after an English variation of Suriname:
Ten ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Renard, or HMS Reynard, after the French for fox, and the anthropomorphic figure of Reynard:
The 20-gun French corvette Hussard was launched in 1799 and the British captured her that same year when they captured Suriname. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Surinam, as there was already an HMS Hussar. The Dutch captured her in 1803, naming her Suriname, but the British recaptured her in 1807 and sent her to Britain. Thereafter she never again served on active duty. She disappeared from the Navy lists in 1809, but her fate is unknown.
The Dutch corvette Scipio was launched in 1784. She convoyed Dutch East Indiamen between the Cape of Good Hope and Europe until HMS Psyche captured her at Samarang in 1807. The British Royal Navy initially referred to her as HMS Scipio, but then renamed her to HMS Samarang in 1808. (She was not commissioned in the Royal Navy. She was instrumental in the capture of Amboyna and especially Pulo Ay, and participated in the invasion of Java. She was sold at Bombay in 1814. She then entered mercantile service, sailing between Liverpool and India until 1827. She became an opium trader sailing between India and Canton, and was broken up near Hong Kong in August 1833.
Several ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Hart including:
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.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
