Nine ships of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

have borne the name HMS ''Ariel'', possibly after the

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

in Judeo-Christian mysticism, but certainly influenced by Shakespeare's "airy spirit" of the same name: * , a 20-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 1777, captured by the French ship ''Amazone'' in 1779 and lent to the Americans as USS ''Ariel'' until 1781. She was lost in 1793. * , a 16-gun sloop launched in 1781. laid up in 1792, offered for sale in 1795, and sold in 1802. * , an 18-gun sloop launched in 1806 and sold in 1816. * , a ''Cherokee''-class

brig-sloop During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all ...

launched in 1820 and wrecked in 1828 on

Sable Island Sable Island (, literally "island of sand") is a small, remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Sable Island is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, about southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, and about southeast of the clo ...

. She had become a Post Office packet in 1826, sailing from Falmouth. Cornwall. On 10 November 1828, she sailed from Falmouth under the command of Lieutenant John Figg (RN). In December a schooner saw her off Sable Island but was unable to warn her off and it was believed that she wrecked a few hours later. All aboard ''Ariel'' died. * , a wooden paddle packet launched in 1822 and transferred to the Navy from the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

in 1837, where she had been named ''Arrow''. She was sold back into mercantile service in 1850. * , a wood

screw sloop A screw sloop is a propeller-driven sloop-of-war. They were popularized in the mid-19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine and the transition of fleets to this new technology. The sailing sloop The British sloop in the Age o ...

launched in 1854 and sold in 1865. * , a second class

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

launched in 1873, transferred to the

coastguard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

in 1877 and sold in 1889. * , a D-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

launched in 1897 and wrecked in 1907 at

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. * , an ''Acheron''-class destroyer launched in 1911 and sunk in 1918 in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. ''Ariel'' has also been the name of a naval training shore establishment: * was a training establishment established at

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

in 1942, then moved to Worthy Down in 1952. It moved to

RNAS Lee-on-Solent Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent, (RNAS Lee-on-Solent; or HMS ''Daedalus'' 1939–1959 & 1965–1996 and HMS ''Ariel'' 1959–1965), is a former Royal Naval Air Station located near Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, approximately west of P ...

, which had been named HMS ''Daedalus'', but was renamed ''Ariel'' in 1959. It had a sister site called

Seafield Park Strathspey Thistle Football Club are a senior football club from Grantown-on-Spey in the Highlands of Scotland. They currently play in the , but formerly played in Junior football from 1993. Club History Strathspey Thistle was formed in 1993. ...

. The name reverted to HMS ''Daedalus'' in 1965. Also: * , was a 14-gun

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

launched in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

in 1809 for the naval arm of the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. She foundered on 12 March 1820.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ariel Royal Navy ship names