Four 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 ''Cardiff'', after the Welsh capital city,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

: * was a 34-gun ship, previously the Dutch ship ''Fortune''. She was captured in 1652 by and was sold in 1658. * was a

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

launched in 1917 and broken up in 1946. * was a Type 42 (Batch 1)

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 1974. She was involved in the

Falklands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Du ...

and

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

s and participated in the buildup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She was decommissioned in 2005, and sold for scrap. * is a

Type 26 frigate The Type 26 frigate, also known as City-class frigate, is a ship class, class of frigates and destroyers being built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, with variants also being built for the Australian and Canadian navies. The programme, know ...

under construction as of 2024. The ships' motto is "Agris in cardine rerum" which translates as "Keen in emergency".

Battle honours

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

1982 *

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

1991 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardiff, Hms Royal Navy ship names