Six 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 ''Rifleman'':
* was a 12-gun
gun-brig
A gun-brig was a small brig-rigged warship that enjoyed popularity in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, during which large numbers were purchased or built. In general these were vessels of under 200 tons burthen, and thus smaller than ...
purchased in 1804 and sold in 1809.
* was an 18-gun launched in 1809 and sold in 1836. She then became a
whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...
, making three whaling voyages between 1837 and 1856.
* was a 6-gun wooden screw
gunvessel
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 1846 and sold in Hong Kong in 1869.
* was a composite screw gunvessel launched in 1872 and sold in 1890.
* was an completed in 1910 and sold for breaking in 1921.
* was an completed in 1944. She was used as an accommodation ship in Barrow in 1970 and sold for breaking in 1972.
* A named HMS ''Rifle'' was laid down in 1944, but cancelled in 1945.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rifleman, Hms
Royal Navy ship names