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Ten 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 carried the name HMS ''Spitfire'', while an eleventh was planned but renamed before entering service. All are named after the
euphemistic A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...
translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...
of '' Cacafuego'', a Spanish treasure
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 ...
captured by Sir
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
. * was an 8-gun
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 ...
purchased in 1776 in North America for Mouatt's squadron at
Falmouth, Massachusetts Falmouth ( ) is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,517 at the 2020 census, making Falmouth the second-largest municipality on Cape Cod after Barnstable, Massachusetts, Barnstable. T ...
. When Admiral d'Estaing's squadron arrived in
Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. S ...
on 29 July 1778, she, , and were all burnt the next day to prevent the French from capturing them. ''Spitfire'' was run ashore on North Sandy Point and then burnt. * was an 8-gun
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 ...
purchased and commissioned in 1778. The captured her on 19 April 1779, near the Azores. The French took her to Lorient where as ''Crachefeu'' she was sold that same month for £t16,147. * HMS ''Spitfire'' was an 8-gun sloop launched in 1752 as . 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 ''Spitfire'' in 1779 and was sold in 1780. * was a 14-gun fireship purchased in 1780. Her fate is unknown. * was a 16-gun fireship launched in 1782 and sold in 1825. * was the French privateer
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 ...
''Poulette'' captured and purchased in 1793. She capsized in 1794. * was a schooner of 64 tons burthen captured from the French in 1798. She was wrecked off the
Amirante Islands The Amirante Islands (''Les Amirantes'') are a group of coral islands and atolls that belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles. They stretch about 155 km from the African Banks (African Islands) in the north to Desnœufs (Isle des N ...
in August 1801. * was a wooden paddle vessel launched in 1834 and wrecked in 1842. * was a wooden paddle
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 1845 by Oliver Lang. She became 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 ...
in 1851, a tug in 1862 and was broken up in 1888. * was a launched in 1895 and sold in 1912. * was an launched in 1912 and sold for breaking up in 1921. * HMS ''Spitfire'' was to have been a C-class destroyer. She was renamed in 1942 and launched in 1943.


Other British military vessels named ''Spitfire''

*''Spitfire'' was a gunboat that the garrison at Gibraltar launched in June 1782 during the
Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Enlightenment in Spain, Spain and Kingdom of France, France to capture Gibraltar from the Kingdom of Great Britain, British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the largest ba ...
. She was one of 12. Each was armed with an 18-pounder gun, and received a crew of 21 men drawn from Royal Navy vessels stationed at Gibraltar. provided ''Spitfire''s crew.Drinkwater (1905), p.246.


See also

* HMS ''Crachefeu'', "''Crachefeu''" being French for "Spitfire". *
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...
, the
fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...
of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Citations


References

* * Drinkwater, John (1905) ''A History of the Siege of Gibraltar, 1779-1783: With a Description and Account of that Garrison from the Earliest Times''. (J. Murray). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spitfire, Hms Royal Navy ship names