Nine ships and two

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 French in 1803–04. ...

s of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

have borne the name HMS ''Gannet'', after the seabird the Gannet:

Ships

* was a 16-gun brig-sloop purchased in 1800 and sold in 1814. * was an 18-gun brig-sloop launched in 1814 and sold in 1838. * was a wooden screw sloop launched in 1857 and broken up in 1887. * was an screw sloop launched in 1878. She became a training ship in 1903 and was renamed HMS ''President'', and was then lent as the training ship ''Mercury'', she was moored in Gosport, Hampshire for many years. She was transferred 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 num ...

in 1987 and is preserved in dry dock at Chatham Dockyard. * HMS ''Gannet'' was a composite screw sloop launched in 1888 as ''Nymphe''. She became a base ship and was renamed ''Wildfire'' in 1906, renamed ''Gannet'' in 1916, and then ''Pembroke'' in 1917. She was sold in 1920. * HMS ''Gannet'' was a iron screw gunboat launched in 1877 as ''Trent''. She was renamed ''Pembroke'' in 1905, becoming a diving tender and being renamed ''Gannet'' in 1917. She was sold in 1923. * was a river gunboat launched in 1927 and transferred to the Chinese Navy in 1942, being renamed ''Ying Shan''. She was on their lists until 1975.

Shore establishments

* HMS ''Gannet'' was the name assigned to RNAS Eglinton, a Fleet Air Arm base in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

, between 1943 and 1959. * HMS ''Gannet II'' or as RNAS Maydown (HMS ''Shrike'') was a Fleet Air Arm base from 1941 to 1947. * HMS ''Gadwell'' with designation HMS ''Gannet III'' when it was assigned as a tender to RNAS Eglinton in 1946. * was a Fleet Air Arm station established in 1971 at RNAS Prestwick in

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine, North Ayrshi ...

The unit closed on 5 February 2016, although the Royal Navy sometimes refers to Prestiwck Airport as HMS Gannet.

Other ships

*''Gannet'' was a tug built for the State of Victoria in 1884 and armed as an auxiliary gunboat. She was sold in 1905. *''LST 3006'' was launched in 1945 and commissioned as HMS ''Tromsø'' in 1947. She was transferred to the Ministry of Transport as ''

Empire Gannet An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' in 1956 and was sold in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gannet, Hms Royal Navy ship names