Two ships and a

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 ...

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 been named HMS ''Ganges'' after the river

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

in India. * was a 74-gun

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

launched in 1782 and broken up in 1816. * was an 84-gun

second rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...

launched in 1821 and finally broken up in 1930. She was the last sailing ship of the Navy to serve as a

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

. * was a training establishment, originally aboard the second HMS ''Ganges''. She was in service between 1865 and 1976. During this period a number of other ships were renamed HMS ''Ganges'' whilst serving as the establishment: ** was ''Ganges'' between 1906 and 1908, and again between 1913 and 1919. She was also ''Ganges II'' between 1908 and 1912, and again between 1920 and 1922. ** was ''Ganges'' between 1908 and 1913. ** was ''Ganges II'' between 1906 and 1908. **

RNTE Shotley Royal Naval Training Establishment Shotley, known in the Royal Navy as , was a naval training establishment at Shotley, near Ipswich in Suffolk. Starting in 1905, it trained boys for naval service until 1973 (The school-leaving age was raised ...

, a shore based training establishment set up in 1905 was ''Ganges II'' from 1913 to 1919, and ''Ganges'' from 1927 to 1976.

See also