Nine 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 ''Investigator''. Another was planned, but renamed before being launched. The name ''Investigator'' passed on to the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British Raj, British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the British Indian Army, Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the ...

and after India's Independence, to its successor the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

where the lineage of naming survey ships Investigator continues unbroken. * was the mercantile ''Fram'', launched in 1795, that the

purchased in 1798 and renamed HMS ''Xenophon'', and then in 1801 converted to a

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the pu ...

under the name HMS ''Investigator''. In 1802, under the command of

Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...

, she was the first ship to

circumnavigate Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magellan Exped ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The Navy sold her in 1810 and she returned to mercantile service under the name ''Xenophon''. She was probably broken up c.1872. * was a 16-gun survey

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 1811. She was used as a police ship from 1837 and was broken up in 1857. * was a survey sloop purchased in 1823. Her fate is unknown. * was a discovery vessel purchased in 1848 to search for Sir

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditions into the Northern Canada, Canadia ...

's lost expedition, and abandoned in the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

in 1853. * was a wooden paddle survey vessel launched in 1861 and sold in 1869. * was a wooden paddle survey vessel launched in 1881 and sold in 1906. * HMS ''Investigator'' was to have been a paddle survey vessel. She was renamed in 1887, before being launched in 1888. * was a survey vessel purchased in 1903. She was renamed HMS ''Sealark'' in 1904 and was sold in mercantile service in 1919. * was a survey vessel launched in 1907 and sold in 1934. * was a survey vessel of the

and later the

purchased in 1932 and sold in 1951.

See also