Eight ships of 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 ...
have borne the name HMS ''Arethusa'' after the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
mythological
nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...
Arethusa who was transformed by
Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...
into a fountain.
* was a 32-gun fifth-rate ship captured from the French Navy in 1759 and wrecked in 1779. Its
Action of 17 June 1778
The action of 17 June 1778 also known as the Fight of ''Belle Poule'' and ''Arethusa'' was a minor naval action that took place off the coast of France between British and French frigates. The action was widely celebrated by both France and Great ...
is the subject of the ballad:
The Saucy Arethusa
''The Saucy Arethusa'' is a nautical song () which, although usually considered "traditional", has been attributed to Prince Hoare, a comic opera librettist, as part of a "musical entertainment" titled ''The Lock and Key'', performed at the Theat ...
.
* was a 38-gun fifth-rate launched in 1781 and broken up in 1814.
* was a 46-gun fifth-rate launched in 1817, and renamed HMS ''Bacchus'' in 1844 upon her conversion into a hulk; she was broken up in 1883.
* was a 50-gun fourth-rate launched in 1849. She was fitted with screw propulsion in 1861 and became a training ship in 1874. She was broken up in 1934.
* was a ''Leander''-class protected cruiser launched in 1882 and scrapped in 1905.
* was an ''Arethusa''-class light cruiser launched in 1913 and wrecked after being damaged by a naval mine in 1916.
* was an ''Arethusa''-class light cruiser launched in 1934 and scrapped in 1950.
* was a ''Leander''-class frigate launched in 1963 and sunk as training target in 1991.
Battle honours
*
Ushant 1778 &
1781
Events
January–March
* January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister of Great Britain, enters Parliament, aged 21.
* January 1 – Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn in Eng ...
*St Lucia 1796
*Curacao 1807
*
Black Sea 1854
*
China 1900
*
Heligoland 1914
*
Dogger Bank 1915
*
Norway 1940-41
*
Malta Convoys 1941-42
*
Normandy 1944HMS ''Arethusa'', British light cruiser, WW2
/ref>
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arethusa
Royal Navy ship names