Twelve 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 ''Vesuvius'' or HMS ''Vesuve'', after the
volcano
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius ( ) is a Somma volcano, somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuv ...
. Another was planned but never completed, while doubt exists over the existence of another:
* 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 ...
launched in 1691 and expended in 1693.
* was an 8-gun fireship launched in 1693. She was stranded in 1695 but was refloated that year. She was condemned in 1705.
* was a 16-gun fireship, previously the civilian ''Worcester''. She was purchased in 1739 and broken up in 1742.
* was an 8-gun fireship, previously the civilian ''King of Portugal''. She was purchased in 1756, converted to a
sloop that year, and was sold in 1763.
* was an 8-gun fireship launched in 1771. She was converted to a sloop and renamed HMS ''Raven'' later that year and was sold in 1780.
* was an 8-gun
bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (Naval long gun, long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but ...
launched in 1776 and sold in 1812.
* was a 3-gun
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 ...
captured from the French in 1795 and sold in 1802.
* HMS ''Vesuvius'' may have been an 8-gun bomb vessel purchased in 1797 and sold in 1813, though this may refer to the ''Vesuvius'' launched in 1776.
* was an 8-gun bomb vessel launched in 1813 and sold in 1819.
* HMS ''Vesuvius'' was to have been an 8-gun bomb vessel. She was ordered in 1823, cancelled in 1828, reordered in 1830 and cancelled in 1831.
* was a wooden paddle
sloop launched in 1839 and sold for scrapping in 1865.
* was an iron screw
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
launched in 1874. She was sold in 1923 and foundered under tow to the breakers.
* was a torpedo-discharge
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 ...
purchased in 1933 and renamed ''TL1'' in 1940.
* HMS ''Vesuvius'' was a minelaying tender launched in 1932 as . She was renamed HMS ''Vernon'' in 1938 and HMS ''Vesuvius'' in 1941. She was sold in 1957.
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Royal Navy ship names