Three 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 ''St David'', after

Saint David David (; ; ) was a Welsh Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. ...

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

: * was a 54-gun

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

launched in 1667. She foundered in 1690, was raised in 1691 and hulked, and finally sold in 1713 * HMS ''St David'' is the name given to a number of tenders of the South Wales oyal Naval Reserveunit, later HMS Cambria (shore establishment). ** Motor minesweeper ''233'' was HMS ''St David'' between 1948 and 1956 ** HMS ''Brereton'' (M1112) was HMS ''St David'' between 1954 and 1961 ** HMS ''Crichton'' (M1124) was HMS ''St David'' between 1961 and 1976 ** was a converted

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 ...

launched in 1972 as the

commercial trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets that ...

''Suffolk Monarch''. She was converted and commissioned into service as the tender to the South Wales Division RNR in 1978 and was the test-bed for the Deep-Armed Team Sweep (DATS) concept, which eventually saw fruition in the River-class MSF. Following her de-commissioning, she was returned to her original owner in 1983, where she was converted into an oil rig safety/standby vessel. * It has been suggested that a 1920s ultimately not ordered could have been named HMS ''St David''.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:St David Royal Navy ship names