Fifteen ships and two

shore establishment A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. 'Stone frigate' is an informal term which has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy (RN), after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a ' sloop of war' to harass the French in ...

s 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 ''Ferret'', after the domestic mammal, the

Ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), as evidenced by the ferret's ability to inter ...

: * was a 10-gun sloop launched in 1704 that the French captured in 1706. * was a 10-gun sloop launched in 1711 that the Spanish captured in 1718. * was a 6-gun sloop launched in 1721 and sold in 1731. * was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1743; she foundered in a hurricane in 1757. * was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1760; she foundered in a hurricane in 1776. * was a 6-gun

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * Cutt ...

launched in 1763 and sold in 1781. * was a 12-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 ...

launched in 1784 and sold in 1801; she then became a

whaler 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 ...

, making six voyages to Brazil, the South Pacific, and New Zealand between 1802 and 1815. * was a 4-gun

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 ...

. She was a Dutch

hoy Hoy may refer to: People Given name * Hoy Menear (died 2023), American politician * Hoy Phallin (born 1995), Cambodian footballer * Hoy Wong (1920–2009), American bartender Surname * Hoy (surname), a Scottish and Irish surname * H� ...

purchased in 1794 and sold in 1802. * was a 6-gun

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

purchased in 1799 that the Spanish captured that same year. * was an 18-gun brig-sloop launched in 1806 and wrecked in 1813. * HMS ''Ferret'' was a 14-gun gun-brig, previously the American

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 ...

''Rapid''. After captured her in 1813 she became HMS ''Nova Scotia''. The Admiralty renamed her HMS ''Ferret'' in 1813 and sold her in 1820. * was a 10-gun brig-sloop launched in 1821 and sold in 1837. * was an 8-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 1840 and wrecked in 1869. * was a , later merged into the A class. She was launched in 1893, was dismantled in 1910 and sunk as a target in 1911. * was an launched in 1911 and sold in 1921. * was the Royal Navy's shore base at Londonderry, Northern Ireland between 1940 and 1947. * is a

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

training centre formed in 1989 at the Intelligence Corps centre in

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the Borough of Ashford, Ashford district, in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about by road southeast of centr ...

. The unit transferred with the Corps and the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre to

Chicksands Chicksands is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Campton and Chicksands in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The village is on the River Flit and close to its parish village of Campton and the tow ...

in 1997.

See also