Twelve ships of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
have been named HMS ''Active'' or HMS ''Actif'', with a thirteenth announced:
* was a 28-gun
sixth rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works an ...
launched in 1758 and captured in 1778 by two French frigates off
San Domingo
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and ...
.
* was a 14-gun
brig-sloop
In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...
launched in 1776 and captured in 1780 by the American privateer ''General Pickering'' off
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* ...
.
* was a 12-gun
cutter that entered service in 1779 and surrendered that same year to the French cutter when ''Active'' encountered and was unable to escape the combined Franco-Spanish fleet in the
English Channel. The French took her into service as ''Actif'' and later ''Activ No.1'' (1782). She was paid off at
Brest in December 1782 and broken up there early the next year.
* was a 32-gun
fifth rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower.
Rating
The rating system in the Royal ...
launched in 1780 and wrecked in 1796 on
Anticosti Island
; moe, Notiskuan; mic, Natigostec
, sobriquet =
, image_name = RiviereHuileAnticosti.jpg
, image_caption = Salmon fisherman on Rivière à l'Huile
, image_map ...
at the mouth of the
Saint Lawrence River.
* was a 14-gun brig-sloop listed in 1782.
* was a 16-gun privateer that captured from the French on 16 March 1794; she foundered on 26 November, although all her crew were saved.
* was a 38-gun fifth rate launched in 1799. She was placed on harbour service in 1826, renamed HMS ''Argo'' in 1833, and was broken up in 1860.
* was a 36-gun fifth rate launched in 1845, becoming a
training ship and being renamed HMS ''Tyne'' in 1867 and HMS ''Durham'' in 1867. She was sold in 1908.
* was a iron screw
corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop ...
launched in 1869 and sold in 1906.
* was an scout
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
launched in 1911 and scrapped in 1920.
* was an
destroyer launched in 1928 and broken up in 1947.
* was a
Type 21 frigate
The Type 21 frigate, or ''Amazon''-class frigate, was a British Royal Navy general-purpose escort that was designed in the late 1960s, built in the 1970s and served throughout the 1980s into the 1990s.
Development
In the mid-1960s, the Royal Na ...
launched in 1972. She was sold to the
Pakistan Navy in 1994 and was renamed .
* will be a
Type 31 frigate
The Type 31 frigate or Inspiration class, and formerly known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose Frigate (GPF), is a planned class of frigate intended to enter service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the 2020s alongside the subma ...
.
Battle honours
Ships named ''Active'' have earned the following
battle honours
A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible.
In European military t ...
:
*
Lagos, 1759
*
Trincomalee, 1782
*
Camperdown, 1797
*
Egypt, 1801
*
Lissa, 1811
*
Pelagosa, 1811
*
Ashantee, 1873−74
*
Jutland, 1916
*
Atlantic, 1939−44
*
''Bismarck'', 1941
*
Diego Suarez, 1942
*
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
, 1944
*
Falkland Islands, 1982
See also
*
* The schooner ''Active'', which was under the command of Lieutenant
Michael Fitton, was a tender to the flagship on the
Jamaica station
Jamaica station is a major train station of the Long Island Rail Road located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers, it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail station ...
. She assisted at the capitulation of
Curaçao on 13 September 1800.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
* Demerliac, Alain (1996) ''La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792''. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Active, Hms
Royal Navy ship names