Four 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 ''Forward'':
Ships
* was a 12-gun
gun-brig
A gun-brig was a small brig-rigged warship that enjoyed popularity in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, during which large numbers were purchased or built. In general these were vessels of under 200 tons burthen, and thus smaller than ...
launched in 1805 and sold in 1815.
* was an wooden screw
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 1855 and sold in 1869.
* was a composite screw gunboat launched in 1877. She became a coal hulk in 1892 and was sold in 1904.
* 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 1904 and sold in 1921.
Shore establishments
* was the name given to the Navy's base at
Newhaven
Newhaven is a port town in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse.
The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford began drying up, forcing a new port to be established. A ...
. It was commissioned on 25 August 1939 and paid off in 1945.
**HMS ''Forward II'' was the
Coastal Forces base at Newhaven between 1941 and 1942, when it was renamed .
* 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 ...
unit and communications training centre in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. It was commissioned in 1984 and is currently active.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forward, Hms
Royal Navy ship names