His Majesty's Australian Ship (HMAS) (or Her Majesty's Australian Ship when the monarch is female) is a

ship prefix A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/n ...

used for commissioned units of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

(RAN). This prefix is derived from HMS (Her/His Majesty's Ship), the prefix used by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and can be equally applied to warships and shore bases (as Australia follows the British tradition of referring to naval establishments as

stone frigate A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. "Stone frigate" is an informal term that has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a ' sloop of war' to harass the French in 1803–04 ...

s). On 10 July 1911,

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

granted the title of Royal Australian Navy to the naval forces of Australia. At the same time, the prefix and acronym were approved for use in identifying units commissioned into the RAN. The prefix had been used prior to formal approval, with the

torpedo-boat destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in 1 ...

commissioned with the HMAS prefix on 1 March 1911. The prefix now refers to the King or Queen of Australia, who is also the British monarch. The first word of the prefix changes depending on the gender of the reigning monarch of Australia.

References

External links

List of current Royal Australian Navy Ships
{{Royal Australian Navy Royal Australian Navy Ship prefixes