Eighteen
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 ...
ships and two schools have borne the name HMS ''Mercury'', or HMS ''Mercure'', after the God
Mercury, of
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...
Ships
* was a 6-gun
galley
A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...
launched in 1592 and sold in 1611.
* was a ship launched in 1620. Her fate is unknown.
* was a ship purchased in 1622. Her fate is unknown.
* was a 6-gun advice boat launched in 1694 and captured by a 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 ...
in 1697.
* was an 8-gun
fireship
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 adv ...
purchased in 1739 and foundered in 1744.
* was a 16-gun
brigantine
A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.
Ol ...
launched in 1744 and captured in 1745.
* 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 1745 and broken up in 1753.
* was a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1756 and wrecked in 1777.
* was an unrated schooner in service 1760–65.
* was a 28-gun sixth rate launched in 1779 and broken up in 1814.
* was an 18-gun
sloop. She was formerly a French privateer that and captured in 1798. She was renamed HMS ''Trompeuse'' in 1799 and foundered in 1800.
* was a tender launched in 1807 and broken up in 1835.
* was a 46-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 ...
launched in 1826, used as a coal hulk from 1861 and sold in 1906.
* was a
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 ...
tender launched in 1837, renamed ''YC6'' in 1866, HMS ''Plymouth'' in 1876, and sold in 1904.
* was an and despatch vessel launched in 1878, converted to a depot ship in 1906, and sold in 1919. She was to have been named HMS ''Columbine'' in 1912, but this did not happen.
* was an auxiliary
minesweeper
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
History
The earliest known usage of ...
sunk during World War I.
* was a paddle steamer requisition during World War II for use as an auxiliary minesweeper which struck a mine and sank in 1940.
School
was a Royal Naval Communications/Signal School sited at Leydene House near Petersfield, Hampshire, in commission from 1941 until 1993. A subsidiary (HMS ''Mercury'' II) was also created.
See also
* , a 14-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 at
Bombay Dockyard
Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, abbreviated as ND (Mbi) and previously known as the Bombay Dockyard, is an Indian shipbuilding yard in Mumbai.
The superintendent of the dockyard is a naval officer of the rank Rear Admiral, known as the Admiral Superint ...
in 1806 for the naval arm of the British
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
and lost at sea in 1833.
* or ''Mercury Packet'', launched at Calcutta in 1806 and sold at Java in 1822.
* , a naval training establishment until 1968 at Hamble in Hampshire, founded as a ship in 1885.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercury, Hms
Royal Navy ship names