Eleven ships of the
Royal Navy and a reserve shore establishment of the
Canadian Navy have borne the name HMS/HMCS ''Discovery'', while ships of other branches have also used the name:
* was a
discovery vessel in service between 1600 and 1620.
* was a 20-gun ship purchased in 1651 and burnt in 1655.
* was a 6-gun
ketch launched in 1692 and broken up in 1705.
* was a discovery
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 ...
lost in the Arctic in 1719.
* was a 6-gun storeship purchased in 1741 and sold in 1750.
* was an 8-gun discovery vessel launched in 1774 as the civilian
collier ''Diligence''. She was acquired in 1775, and accompanied on Captain
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
's third voyage of exploration from 1776 to 1780. She became a dockyard transport in 1781 and was broken up in 1797.
* was a 10-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 and purchased in 1789. She was commanded by Captain
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...
on his voyage of exploration from 1791 to 1795. She was converted to a
bomb vessel in 1799, a
convict ship in 1818 and was broken up in 1834.
* was a survey vessel in service in 1800 and sold in 1828.
*HMS ''Discovery'' was to have been a wood screw
gunvessel. She was ordered in 1861 but was cancelled in 1863.
* was a wood screw storeship, formerly the civilian ''Bloodhound'', purchased in 1874. She was commanded by Captain
George Nares during the
British Arctic Expedition between 1875 and 1876. She was sold in 1902.
*
HMS ''Discovery'' was a purpose-built survey ship launched in 1901. She was commanded by Captain
Robert Falcon Scott during the
Discovery Expedition to the Antarctic in 1901, and was sold in 1905. She was re-designated
RRS (Royal Research Ship) ''Discovery'' in 1923, repurchased in 1929 as a
training ship, and was handed over for preserving as a
museum ship
A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
in 1979.
*, the Vancouver
stone frigate of the
Canadian Forces Naval Reserve
The Naval Reserve (NAVRES, french: link=no, Réserve navale) is the Primary Reserve component of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The primary mission of the NAVRES is to force generate sailors and teams for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations, inc ...
, established as a volunteer half-company of the
Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1924 and commissioned as ''Discovery'' in 1941.
Battle honours
*
Portland 1653
*
Copenhagen 1801
See also
*, a World War II armed boarding vessel
*Space Shuttle ''
Discovery,'' primarily named after Capt. Cook's ship of exploration.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Discoverys
Royal Navy ship names
Exploration ships