Nine 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 ''Ariel'', possibly after the

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

in Judeo-Christian mysticism, but certainly influenced by Shakespeare's "airy spirit" of the same name: * , a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1777, captured by the French ship ''Amazone'' in 1779 and lent to the Americans as USS ''Ariel'' until 1781. She was lost in 1793. * , a 16-gun

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 sa ...

launched in 1781. laid up in 1792, offered for sale in 1795, and sold in 1802. * , an 18-gun sloop launched in 1806 and sold in 1816. * , a ''Cherokee''-class brig-sloop launched in 1820 and wrecked in 1828 on Sable Island. She had become a Post Office packet in 1826, sailing from Falmouth. Cornwall. On 10 November 1828, she sailed from Falmouth under the command of Lieutenant John Figg (RN). In December a schooner saw her off Sable Island but was unable to warn her off and it was believed that she wrecked a few hours later. All aboard ''Ariel'' died. * , a wooden paddle packet launched in 1822 and transferred to the Navy from the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

in 1837, where she had been named ''Arrow''. She was sold back into mercantile service in 1850. * , a wood screw sloop launched in 1854 and sold in 1865. * , a second class gunboat launched in 1873, transferred to the coastguard in 1877 and sold in 1889. * , a D-class

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 ...

launched in 1897 and wrecked in 1907 at

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. * , an ''Acheron''-class destroyer launched in 1911 and sunk in 1918 in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. ''Ariel'' has also been the name of a naval training shore establishment: * was a training establishment established at

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in 1942, then moved to

Worthy Down Worthy Down Camp is a tri-service establishment near Winchester, in Hampshire, England. It forms part of the wider Winchester Garrison and houses the headquarters of the Defence College of Logistics, Policing and Administration (DCLPA), as well ...

in 1952. It moved to

RNAS Lee-on-Solent Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (HMS ''Daedalus'') was one of the primary shore airfields of the Fleet Air Arm. First established as a seaplane base in 1917 during the First World War, it later became the main training establishment and ad ...

, which had been named HMS ''Daedalus'', but was renamed ''Ariel'' in 1959. It had a sister site called

Seafield Park Strathspey Thistle Football Club are a senior football club from Grantown-on-Spey in the Highlands of Scotland. They currently play in the Highland Football League, but formerly played in Junior football from 1993. They were accepted into th ...

. The name reverted to HMS ''Daedalus'' in 1965. Also: * , was a 14-gun

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

launched in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in 1809 for the naval arm of the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. She foundered on 12 March 1820.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ariel Royal Navy ship names