Six 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 ...

have borne the name HMS ''Avon''. ''Avon'' comes from a Brythonic word meaning "river". * was an 18-gun launched in 1805. In 1814 she was sunk in action with the American ''Wasp'' in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. * was a 2-gun wooden

paddle A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened distal end (i.e. the ''blade''), used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered w ...

package ship transferred from the GPO to the Royal Navy in 1837. From 1843 she was used as a survey ship and she was sold in 1863. * was a 2-gun wooden

gunboat 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-ste ...

purchased in 1862. She was used in the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the ...

and was sold in 1865 as a coal hulk. She later became the civilian vessel ''Clyde''. * was a 4-gun composite

screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...

gun vessel launched in 1867. She was sold in 1890. * was a destroyer launched in 1896. She was sold in 1920. * was a launched in 1943. She was handed over to the

Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy ( pt, Marinha Portuguesa, also known as ''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'' or as ''Armada Portuguesa'') is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Port ...

in 1949 where she was renamed ''Nuno Tristao''. She was broken up in 1970.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Avon Royal Navy ship names