Thirteen 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 been named HMS ''Shark'' (or HMS ''Sharke'') after the

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

: * was an 8-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 1691 and sold in 1698. * was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1699 and captured by French forces in 1703. * was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1711, rebuilt in 1722 and sold in 1732. * was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1732 and sold in 1755. * was a 16-gun sloop purchased on the stocks in 1775 and launched in 1776. She was converted to a

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 ...

and renamed HMS ''Salamander'' in 1778, and was sold in 1783. She then became the mercantile ''Salamander'' and was seriatem a whaler,

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

to Australia, whaler, and slaver. She is last listed in '' Lloyd's Register'' in 1811. * was a 16-gun sloop launched in 1779. She was used as a receiving ship on the Jamaica station from 1803 to 1816 and foundered in Port Royal harbor in 1818; her remains were sold a few months later. * was a 28-gun sixth rate bought in 1780 that foundered with the loss of her entire crew during a storm off North America in 1780. * was a 4-gun Dutch hoy purchased in 1794 and handed over to French forces in 1795 at La Hogue by her crew during a mutiny.Hepper (1994), p.79. * was a launched in 1894 and broken up in 1911. * was an launched in 1912. She was sunk at the battle of Jutland in 1916. * was an launched in 1918 and scrapped in 1931. * was an S-class

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

launched in 1934. She was disabled by an air attack in 1940 and sank the next day. *, an S-class destroyer launched in 1943. She was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy on completion in 1944 and renamed . She was sunk later that year.

Citations

References

* *Hepper, David J. (1994) ''British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859''. (Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shark, Hms Royal Navy ship names