Five ships and a number of

shore establishment A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. "Stone frigate" is an informal term that has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the First French Empire, ...

s 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 ''Daedalus'', after the mythical

Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, an ...

: * was a 32-gun

fifth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

launched in 1780. She was lent to

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

between 1803 and 1806 as a hulk, and was broken up in 1811. * was a 38-gun fifth rate, previously the Venetian frigate ''Corona''. She was captured from the French in 1811 and was wrecked in 1813. * was a 46-gun fifth rate launched in 1826. She was reduced to 20 guns in 1843 and became a

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

drill ship in 1862. She was sold in 1911. * HMS ''Daedalus'' was an iron screw

floating battery A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...

launched in 1856 as HMS ''Thunderbolt''. Converted to a floating pierhead in 1873, she bore the name HMS ''Daedalus'' between 1916 and 1919 whilst serving as the nominal depot ship of the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

. Personnel of Royal Naval Air Service Training Establishment, Cranwell were held against HMS ''Daedalus'' (see Royal Air Force College Cranwell#History. The vessel was sunk in 1948 when a tug collided with her, and raised the following year to be broken up. *HMS ''Daedalus'' was to have been a

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

. She was ordered in 1918, but cancelled later that year. * HMS ''Daedalus'' was a naval air station, also known as RNAS Lee-on-Solent. The base was opened in 1917 and transferred to the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in 1918. It was returned to the successor of the Royal Naval Air Service, the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

, in 1939. It and various out-stations bore the name HMS ''Daedalus'' between 1957 and 1996. * was a seaplane base and training establishment at several locations around the United Kingdom. Commissioned in 1940, the base was paid off in 1946. * was an accommodation and release centre at Lee on Solent and Bedhampton between 1943 and 1947.

References

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