Nine 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 ''Speedy'': * 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 1782. She was captured by the French in 1794, retaken by in 1795 and commanded by Thomas Cochrane in 1801. The French captured her again in 1801, whilst she was in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, and donated her to the

Papal Navy The Papal Navy (, "Pontifical Navy"; ) was the navy, maritime force of the Papal States. Loosely constituted, it was sporadically extant from approximately the Battle of Ostia (849) during the pontificate of Pope Leo IV, Leo IV until the ascension ...

, She was struck in 1806. * was a

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 ...

serving on the Canadian

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

. She was launched in 1798 and foundered in 1804. * was a

brig-sloop 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 ...

, formerly ''George Herbert'', purchased in 1803 and sold in 1818 for use as a floating chapel. The chapel was used until 1834 then she was broken up. * was a six-gun cutter launched in 1828, converted to a dockyard mooring

lighter A lighter is a portable device which uses mechanical or electrical means to create a controlled flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of flammable items, such as cigarettes, butane gas, fireworks, candles, or campfires. A lighter typic ...

in 1853 and renamed ''YC.11'' and broken up in 1866. * was a wood screw gunboat of the , launched in 1860 and broken up in 1889. * was a torpedo gunboat launched in 1893 and sunk by a mine in the

Humber estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

in 1914. * was an launched in 1918 and sunk on 24 September 1922 in a collision with a tug in the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

.Gray, Randal, ed., ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985, , p. 84. * was a launched in 1938. She was sold in 1946 and renamed ''Speedon'', and was broken up at

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

in 1957. * was a

jetfoil The Boeing 929 Jetfoil is a passenger-carrying, waterjet-propelled hydrofoil by the Boeing Company. Boeing adapted many systems used in jet airplanes for hydrofoils. Robert Bateman led development. Boeing launched its first passenger-carrying ...

launched in 1979 and sold into mercantile service in 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speedy, HMS Royal Navy ship names

See also

References