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 ...

has used the name ''Comet'' no fewer than 18 times: * was a 4-gun

bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons ( long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounte ...

built in 1695 that the French captured in 1706. * was a 14-gun bomb vessel in use from 1742 to 1749, when she was sold. She became the armed merchant vessel named ''Adventure'' that appears in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

'' between 1776, and 1784. * was an 8-gun

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

used in 1756. * was a 10-gun

brig-sloop In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

built in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1758. * HMS ''Comet'' was the name given to the 10-gun sloop after her recommissioning as a

fireship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

in 1779. * was a schooner that South Carolina Navy purchased in 1775, converted into a brigantine, and named ''Comet''. The RN captured her in 1777 and converted her into a galley that was destroyed in 1779 during the

Siege of Savannah The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenan ...

. * HMS ''Comet'' was the

Guineaman Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

(slave ship) ''Betsey'' that the Royal Navy purchased at Antigua in 1777 and armed with 10-14 guns. The navy sold her in Britain in 1778. * HM Schooner ''Comet'', of 10 guns, formerly "McDonogh's Packet", operated in 1777 and captured three American vessels in May. She may have been a

ship's tender A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship, used to service or support other boats or ships. This is generally done by transporting people or supplies to and from shore or another ship. A second and distinctl ...

to . * HMS ''Comet'' was commissioned in 1780 and paid off in 1782.Winfield (2007), p.335. On 23 December 1781 the "bomb-galley" ''Comet'' participated in an invasion of Georgia.''Gentleman's and London Magazine: Or Monthly Chronologer, 1741-1794'', p.207. * was a fireship built in 1783 and used in 1800 at

Dunkirk Roads Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France.

. * was launched in 1807 as a ''Thais''-class

of the

. In 1808 the class were re-rated as sloops, and in 1811 they were re-rated as 20-gun

sixth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...

s. ''Comet'' participated in one action that resulted in her crew being awarded the Naval General Service Medal, and some other actions and captures. The Navy sold her in 1815. In 1816 she became an

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

, sailing under a license from 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 ...

(EIC). She sailed between 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

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It was on one of these journeys that she was wrecked on Cole House Point on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

on 9 August 1828. * was launched in 1822, making her the first steam-powered vessel of the Royal Navy, although not added to the Navy List until 1831. * was an 18-gun launched in 1828, renamed ''Comus'' in 1832, and broken up 1862. * HMS ''Comet'' was the former , renamed in 1869. * was an

flat-iron gunboat Flat-iron gunboats (more formally known as Rendel gunboats) were a number of classes of coastal gunboats generally characterised by small size, low freeboard, the absence of masts,Some Rendel-type gunboats were fitted with masts (the British ''Med ...

launched in 1870 and sold for breaking in 1908. * was an launched in 1910 and sunk by an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

in 1918. * was a 1930s C-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 1931, renamed ''Restigouche'' in 1938, and broken up in 1946. * was a 1940s C-class destroyer in service from 1944 to 1962.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Comet, Hms Royal Navy ship names