Eleven 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 ''Blonde'': * 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 N ...

frigate. A British squadron under Captain John Elliot in met a French squadron under Captain

François Thurot François Thurot (22 July 1727 – 28 February 1760) was a French Navy officer, privateer and sea captain who served in the War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. Early life He may have been the son of the postmaster at Nuits-St ...

in the ''Maréchal de Belle-Isle'' on 24 February 1760. In the action, the British captured ''Maréchal de Belle-Isle'' (after Thurot was killed), , and ''Blonde''. The Royal Navy took the latter two into service; ''Blonde'' was wrecked in May 1782 off

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. * was a 32-gun fifth rate believed to have been launched in 1783. Little is known of her, and she may have been cancelled or renamed. * was a 32-gun fifth rate launched in 1787 and used as a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

from 1798, before being sold in 1805. Because ''Blonde'' served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants. * was a French

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 sloo ...

launched in 1781 that and captured in 1793. The Royal Navy took her into service as the 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 ...

HMS ''Blonde''. She was sold in 1794 and became a

whaling ship A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

that a French privateer captured in 1796. * HMS ''Blonde'' was previously , a 38-gun fifth rate captured from the French in 1782. She was renamed HMS ''Blonde'' in 1805 and was broken up in 1811. * HMS ''Blonde'' was to have been a 36-gun fifth rate, but she was renamed in 1812 before being launched in 1813. * was a 46-gun fifth rate launched in 1819. She was used for harbour service from 1850 and was renamed HMS ''Calypso'' in 1870, before being sold in 1895. She is mainly known for her 1824 trip to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, returning the bodies of King

Kamehameha II Kamehameha II (November 1797 – July 14, 1824) was the second king of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kingdom of Hawaii from 1819 to 1824. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani. It was lengthened to Kala ...

and Queen

Kamāmalu Kamāmalu Kalani-Kuaʻana-o-Kamehamalu-Kekūāiwa-o-kalani-Kealiʻi-Hoʻopili-a-Walu (–1824) was Queen consort of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi as the wife of King Kamehameha II. Kamāmalu was short for Kamehamalu or Kamehamehamalu m ...

, who both had died during a trip to London. * HMS ''Blonde'' was to have been an wooden screw

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

. She was laid down in 1860 but was cancelled in 1863. * HMS ''Blonde'' was to have been an armoured frigate, but she was renamed in 1873 before being launched later that year. * was a third-class

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of cruiser of the late 19th century, took their name from the armored deck, which protected vital machine-spaces from fragments released by explosive shells. Protected cruisers notably lacked a belt of armour alon ...

launched in 1889 and sold in 1905. * was a

scout cruiser A scout cruiser was a type of warship of the early 20th century, which were smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured than protected cruisers or light cruisers, but larger than contemporary destroyers. Intended for fleet scouting duties a ...

launched in 1910 and sold in 1920. * The 'blonde' submarines of the 1950s, and , acquired this nickname from their use of

High-Test Peroxide High-test peroxide (HTP) is a highly concentrated (85 to 98%) solution of hydrogen peroxide, with the remainder consisting predominantly of water. In contact with a catalyst, it decomposes into a high-temperature mixture of steam and oxygen, with n ...

as a fuel, and its related use as a hair bleach.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blonde Royal Navy ship names