HMS Vesuvius

Twelve ships of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

have borne the name HMS ''Vesuvius'' or HMS ''Vesuve'', after the

volcano A volcano is a rupture 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 often found where tectonic plates ...

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a 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 ...

. Another was planned but never completed, while doubt exists over the existence of another: * was an 8-gun

fireship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

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 A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

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 (long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars moun ...

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-stea ...

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

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 s ...

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 creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or ...

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vesuvius, Hms Royal Navy ship names