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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.
Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Africa, after the continent of Africa. Two others were planned:
HMS Warrior is a 40-gun steam-powered armoured frigate built for the Royal Navy in 1859–1861. She was the name ship of the Warrior-class ironclads. Warrior and her sister ship HMS Black Prince were the first armour-plated, iron-hulled warships, and were built in response to France's launching in 1859 of the first ocean-going ironclad warship, the wooden-hulled Gloire. Warrior conducted a publicity tour of Great Britain in 1863 and spent her active career with the Channel Squadron. Obsolescent following the 1873 commissioning of the mastless and more capable HMS Devastation, she was placed in reserve in 1875, and was "paid off" – decommissioned – in 1883.
Several ships of the Royal Navy have been named Achilles, after the Greek hero Achilles. Four others, two of them prizes, had the French spelling of the name, Achille.
Four ships and one shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hibernia after the Latin name of Ireland:
Six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Rodney, of which at least the last five were named after the Georgian Admiral George, Lord Rodney. A seventh was planned but never completed:
Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Minotaur after the minotaur, a creature in Greek mythology:
Six ships and a training establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Imperieuse:
The Warrior-class ironclads were a class of two warships built for the Royal Navy between 1859 and 1862, the first ocean-going ironclads with iron hulls ever constructed. The ships were designed as armoured frigates in response to an invasion scare sparked by the launch of the French ironclad Gloire and her three sisters in 1858. They were initially armed with a mix of rifled breech-loading and muzzle-loading smoothbore guns, but the Armstrong breech-loading guns proved unreliable and were ultimately withdrawn from service.
Eight ships or submarines of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Anson, after Admiral George Anson:
HMS Prince of Wales was one of six 121-gun screw-propelled first-rate three-decker line-of-battle ships of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 25 January 1860.
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Iris after the Greek mythological figure Iris or after the flower by that name. A ninth was planned but renamed before entering service:
The central battery ship, also known as a centre battery ship in the United Kingdom and as a casemate ship in European continental navies, was a development of the (high-freeboard) broadside ironclad of the 1860s, given a substantial boost due to the inspiration gained from the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between ironclads fought in 1862 during the American Civil War. One of the participants was the Confederate casemate ironclad CSS Virginia, essentially a central battery ship herself, albeit a low-freeboard one. The central battery ships had their main guns concentrated in the middle of the ship in an armoured citadel. The concentration of armament amidships meant the ship could be shorter and handier than a broadside type like previous warships. In this manner the design could maximize the thickness of armour in a limited area while still carrying a significant broadside. These ships meant the end of the armoured frigates with their full-length gun decks.
Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Trent, after the River Trent:
Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Pelican, after the bird, while another was planned:
Two ships and a training establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Vernon, possibly after Admiral Edward Vernon:
Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Blonde:
Nine ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Racehorse:
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:
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.
