HMS Sphinx

Last updated December 03, 2022

Six ships (and one shore establishment) of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sphinx or HMS Sphynx, after the mythical creature, the Sphinx:

HMS Sphinx (1748) was a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1748 and sold in 1770.
HMS Sphinx (1775) was a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1775. The French captured her in September 1779,^[1] but HMS Proserpine recaptured her on 29 November 1779.^[2] She was broken up in 1811.
HMS Sphynx (1815) was a 10-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloop launched in 1815 that became a Post Office Packet Service packet, sailing out of Falmouth, Cornwall. She was sold in 1835.
HMS Sphynx (1846) was a wooden paddle sloop launched in 1846 and broken up in 1881.
HMS Sphinx (1882) was a composite paddle vessel launched in 1882 and sold in 1919.
HMS Sphinx (J69) was an Halcyon-class minesweeper launched in 1939 that foundered in 1940 after an air attack.
HMS Sphinx was the name given to a naval accommodation camp in Alexandria, Egypt, from April 1941.^[3]

Citations

↑ Demerliac (1996), p.69, #432.
↑ "No. 12678". The London Gazette . 30 August 1785. p. 410.
↑ Burn, Bill (2011). "HMS Sphinx, minesweeper". naval-history.net. Retrieved 2 March 2013.

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Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Niger after the Niger River, whilst another was planned.

A number of ships Royal Navy have been named HMS Echo, after the Echo of Greek mythology

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

Eighteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Mercury, or HMS Mercure, after the God Mercury, of Roman mythology:

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

Ten ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Basilisk, after the Basilisk, a mythical lizard:

Thirty-nine vessels of the Royal Navy and its predecessors have borne the name Swallow, as has one dockyard craft, one naval vessel of the British East India Company, and at least two revenue cutters, all after the bird, the Swallow:

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

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

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HMS Swift has been the name of numerous ships of the Royal Navy:

Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Vestal, a term pertaining to the goddess Vesta in Roman mythology:

References

Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). ISBN 2-906381-23-3

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[1] Demerliac (1996), p.69, #432.

[2] "No. 12678". The London Gazette . 30 August 1785. p. 410.

[3] Burn, Bill (2011). "HMS Sphinx, minesweeper". naval-history.net. Retrieved 2 March 2013.

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