Fourteen ships and one

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 borne the name HMS ''Merlin'', after

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

, the wizard in

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...

(the shore establishment RNAS Donibristle, like the other Naval Air Stations in Scotland, was named after the sea bird): * was a 10-gun pinnance built in 1579 and listed until 1601. * was a 14-gun

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

launched in 1652 and captured by a Dutch squadron off Cadiz in 1665 while she was convoying victualing ships to Tangier; her resistance restricted the Dutch to capturing only four of her charges. * was an 8-gun yacht launched in 1666 and sold in 1698. * was a 2-gun sloop launched in 1699 and sold in 1712. * was a 10-gun sloop launched in 1744 and sold in 1750. * was a 10-gun sloop in service in 1753. * was a 10-gun sloop launched in 1756. She was captured by a French privateer in 1757, but recaptured later that year and renamed HMS ''Zephyr''. The French frigate ''Gracieuse'' recaptured her in August 1778;Hepper (1994), p.53. she was disarmed and sold at Toulon in January 1780 for Lt44,200. The purchasers turned her into a privateer, which the British privateer ''Fame'' captured and burnt on 26 August 1780. * was a 16-gun sloop launched in 1757, having been purchased on the stocks. She was abandoned and burnt in 1777 after she grounded on a sandbank while attacking the fort on Mud Island in the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

below Philadelphia.Hepper (1994), p.50. * was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1780, having been purchased on the stocks. She was sold in 1795. * was a 16-gun sloop launched in 1796 and broken up in 1803. * was a 16-gun sloop, previously in civilian service as ''Hercules''. She was purchased in 1803 and sold in 1836. * was a 4-gun wood paddle

packet Packet may refer to: * A small container or pouch ** Packet (container), a small single use container ** Cigarette packet ** Sugar packet * Network packet, a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-mode computer network * Packet radio, a form ...

launched in 1838 and sold in 1863. * was a composite 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 1871 and sold in 1891. * was a launched in 1901. She was used as a

survey vessel 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 ...

from 1906 and was sold in 1923. ''Merlin'' has also been the name of a Royal Naval Air Station shore establishment: *HMS ''Merlin'' was a Royal Navy airbase of the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

, known as

RNAS Donibristle Royal Naval Air Station Donibristle or more simply RNAS Donibristle was a former Fleet Air Arm base located east of Rosyth, Fife, and northwest of Edinburgh. It was also known as HMS Merlin. It grew from an emergency landing ground first est ...

and located at

Donibristle Donibristle () was a house and estate (land), estate in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Only the wings of the house remain, within the modern settlement of Dalgety Bay. They are now protected as a category A listed building. D ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. It was a former RAF station, but was transferred to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

and commissioned in 1939, and was paid off in 1959.

Citations

References

* *Demerliac, Alain (1996) ''La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792''. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merlin, Hms Royal Navy ship names