Six ships of the
Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Charybdis'', after the sea monster
Charybdis
Charybdis (; grc, Χάρυβδις, Khárybdis, ; la, Charybdis, ) is a sea monster in Greek mythology. She, with the sea monster Scylla, appears as a challenge to epic characters such as Odysseus, Jason, and Aeneas. Scholarship locates her in t ...
of
Greek mythology.
* The first was an 18-gun
brig-sloop in use from 1809 to 1819. She apparently became the
whaler ''Greenwich'' which made three complete voyages and then wrecked in the Seychelles in 1833 while on her fourth.
* The second was a 10-gun brig-sloop in use from 1831 to 1843.
* The third was a
screw corvette
Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for exam ...
launched in 1859, loaned to
Canada from 1880 to 1882, and sold 1884.
* The fourth was an
protected cruiser launched in 1893, converted to a cargo ship in 1918 and sold to
Bermuda in 1922.
* The fifth was a launched in 1940 and sunk in the
English Channel by German
torpedo boats in 1943. Twenty-one of the sailors' bodies were washed up on the shores of
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
, where they were given a burial with full military honours by the German occupying forces. Every year a commemoration service is held, which is attended by local naval veterans,
Sea Cadets
Sea cadets are members of a sea cadet corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or a naval s ...
and representatives of the
Royal Navy.
* The sixth was a launched in 1968 and sunk as a target in 1993.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charybdis, Hms
Royal Navy ship names