Several ships 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 ...

has been named HMS ''Heron'' after the

wading bird 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

. * , an 18-gun 340-ton sloop purchased June 1804 (and previously named ''Jason''). Renamed HMS ''Volcano'' in 1810 following conversion to a

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 mounted ...

. Sold on 28 August 1816. * , a originally to have been called HMS ''Rattlesnake'' and launched at Upnor, Kent on 22 October 1812, and broken up in March 1831. * , a 482-ton 16-gun brig launched at Chatham Dockyard on 27 September 1847 and lost at sea off West Africa on 9 May 1859. * , a wooden screw launched at Miller's Shipyard, Liverpool on 5 July 1860 and broken up in Jamaica in 1881. * , an 85-ton river gunboat equipped with two 2-pounder guns and constructed at Yarrow. Transferred to the Nigerian Government on 1 January 1899. * HMS ''Heron'' was a 100-ton War Department tender originally called . Following her transfer to the Royal Navy in 1906 she was renamed ''Heron''. Sold in September 1923. * HMS ''Heron'' was assigned to a 1,200-ton sloop, but the vessel had been renamed by the time of her launch in 1938. * HMS ''Heron II'' was a short-term resident at

RNAS Haldon Haldon Aerodrome was the first airfield in Devon. Established in the 1920s as a private flying field, it developed into an airport with scheduled airline service, and was used by the Navy during World War II. The airport has also been known as Te ...

before moving to RNAS Charlton Horethorne during World War II. It closed in 1948. * HMS ''Heron'' (shore establishment) is the designation currently given to

RNAS Yeovilton Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, or RNAS Yeovilton, (HMS ''Heron'') is an airfield of the Royal Navy and British Army, sited a few miles north of Yeovil, Somerset. It is one of two active Fleet Air Arm bases (the other being RNAS Culdrose) ...

in Somerset, England

References

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