Thirteen 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 ''Experiment'': * was a double-hulled sloop built in 1664 and lost in 1687. * was a 4-gun sloop built in 1667 and on the Navy List until 1682. * 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 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 ...

built in 1689, rebuilt in 1727 and broken up in 1738. Her logbook survives. * was a 24-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 1740 and sold in 1763. She captured the French

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

''Telemaque'' in 1757 and had a young John Jervis serving on board her. * was a

storeship Combat stores ships, or storeships, are ships used to store naval supplies. They are used to deliver supplies such as provisions and fuel to combat ships on extended deployments. The United States US Navy, Navy operated the and es and the Royal ...

, purchased in 1765 and sold in 1768. * was a

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 ...

, built in 1772. Her fate is unknown. Possibly lost in the

Great Hurricane of 1780 The Great Hurricane of 1780 was the deadliest tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere. An estimated 22,000 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through the islands from October 10 to October 16. Specifics on the h ...

* was a 50-gun

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

launched in 1774. The French 50-gun ship captured her off the North American coast in September 1779, during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, along with three

merchantmen A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which ar ...

. * was a 14-gun

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 u ...

purchased in 1781 and sold in 1785. * was a 44-gun fifth rate launched in 1784, used as a storeship from 1795 and for harbour service from 1805. She was sold in 1836. Because ''Experiment'' 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, which 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 10-gun

lugger A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or more masts. Luggers were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively ...

launched in 1793 that the Spanish captured in the Mediterranean in 1796. The British privateer ''Felicity'' recaptured her in early 1806 but the Royal Navy did not take her back into service. * was a

fire ship A fire ship or fireship is a large wooden vessel set on fire to be used against enemy ships during a ramming attack or similar maneuver. Fireships were used to great effect against wooden ships throughout naval military history up until the ad ...

purchased in 1794 and sold in 1801. * was a 2-gun gunboat launched in 1799, gone from the Navy List by 1809. * was a wood paddle sloop serving on the Canadian Lakes. She was purchased in 1838 and sold in 1848.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Experiment, Hms Royal Navy ship names