Fifteen 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 ...

and its predecessors have borne the name ''Speedwell'': * was a

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 ...

captured from the French in 1560 and broken up in 1580. * was a 41-gun

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

, rebuilt in 1592, renamed ''Speedwell'' and rearmed to 40 guns in 1607, and was lost in 1624. * was a 20-gun ship, launched in 1656 as ''Cheriton'', renamed HMS ''Speedwell'' in 1660, and wrecked in 1676. * 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 1688 and sunk as a

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * ...

in 1692. * was an 8-gun fireship, rebuilt in 1702 as a 28-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 ...

, and wrecked in 1720. * was a 14-gun

sloop-of-war During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all u ...

launched in 1744 and sold in 1750. * was an 8-gun sloop, converted to a fireship and renamed HMS ''Spitfire'' in 1779, and sold in 1780. * was a cutter of unknown origin, that the French captured in 1761. * was an 18-gun sloop listed in 1775 that the captured on 26 October 1781 near

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. * was a 16-gun cutter purchased in 1780, converted to a

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 ...

in 1796, and foundered in 1807. * was a 5-gun

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

purchased in 1815 and sold in 1834. * was a survey cutter purchased in 1841 and sold in 1855. * was a wooden screw launched in 1861 and broken up in 1876. * was a

torpedo gunboat In the late 19th century, torpedo gunboats were a form of gunboat armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller torpedo boats. By the end of the 1890s torpedo gunboats were superseded by their more successful contemporaries, ...

, converted to 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 ...

in 1909, and was sold in 1920. * was a launched in 1935, renamed ''Topaz'' and sold into civilian service in 1946. * ''Speedwell'', possibly a Revenue cutter or a

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 ...

, captured two French privateers in early December 1782 near Weymouth. One was ''Complaisant'',''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...

'', no. 142

and the other was '' Poisson Volant''. This ''Speedwell'' does not appear to be HMS ''Speedwell'' as at that time the latter was at Gibraltar.

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speedwell, Hms Royal Navy ship names

See also

Citations