Seven ships of the British
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 ''Myrmidon'' after the
Myrmidons
In Greek mythology, the Myrmidons (or Myrmidones; , singular: , ) were an ancient Thessaly, Thessalian tribe.
In Homer's ''Iliad'', the Myrmidons are the soldiers commanded by Achilles. Their :wikt:eponym, eponymous ancestor was Myrmidon (hero) ...
of Greek mythology.
* The first was a 22-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 ...
in use from 1781 to 1811.
* The second was a 20-gun sixth rate launched 1813 and broken up 1823.
* The third was an iron-hulled paddle gun vessel in service from 1845 to 1858.
* The fourth was a wooden-hulled screw gun vessel, launched in June 1867 but completed in October 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 ...
, and sold in 1889.
* The fifth was a
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
launched in 1900 and lost in a collision with a passenger ship in 1917.
* The sixth was a destroyer launched in 1942 and loaned to the
Polish Navy
The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...
in that year, and as sunk in 1943 by .
* The seventh was a
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 ...
launched in 1944 and broken up 1958.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myrmidon, Hms
Royal Navy ship names