Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Invincible''. * was originally the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

74-gun

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

''L'Invincible'', captured off

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; gl, Cabo Fisterra, italic=no ; es, Cabo Finisterre, italic=no ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like ...

in 1747. She was the first purpose-built 74-gun ship of the line to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship sank in February 1758 when she hit a sandbank in the East Solent. * was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1765 at Deptford Dockyard and commissioned at Portsmouth in 1776. Her career saw her involvement in the

Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) The Battle of Cape St. Vincent () was a naval battle that took place off the southern coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron unde ...

(against the Spanish fleet) and the

Battle of St. Kitts The Battle of Saint Kitts, also known as the Battle of Frigate Bay, was a naval battle fought on 25 and 26 January 1782 during the American Revolutionary War between a British fleet under Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and a larger French fleet u ...

and the Glorious First of June (both against the French fleet). She was also involved in the capture of

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

, Trinidad and

Surinam Surinam may refer to: * Surinam (Dutch colony) (1667–1954), Dutch plantation colony in Guiana, South America * Surinam (English colony) (1650–1667), English short-lived colony in South America * Surinam, alternative spelling for Suriname ...

. She was wrecked off the Norfolk coast in 1801, with the loss of 400 lives. * was a 74-gun ship, launched at Woolwich in 1808. She saw action in the Peninsular War, supporting the British forces. She was paid off in 1814, and broken up in 1861, in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. * HMS ''Invincible'' was to have been the world's second ocean-going iron-hulled armoured

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 ...

, and sister to , but she was renamed before her launch. * was an armoured "broadside battleship" built in 1869. She was renamed ''Erebus'' in 1904 and ''Fisgard II'' in 1906, before foundering in a storm in 1914. * was a

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

of the First World War attached to the

1st Cruiser Squadron The First Cruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of cruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the World War I then later as part of the Mediterranean Fleet, Mediterranean during the Interwar period and World War II it first ...

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

at the end of 1908. She saw action at Battle of Heligoland Bight, the Battle of the Falkland Islands, and the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

, where she blew up and sank after taking a hit from , with the loss of 1,026 crew. Only six crew members survived. * was a light

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

, the first of three in the . She served from 1980 to 2005, including service in the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

.About Sixth HMS Invincible
- Royal Navy website She was scrapped in Turkey in 2011.

Battle honours

* St Vincent, 1780 * St Kitts, 1782 * Glorious First of June, 1794 * Alexandria, 1882 * Heligoland, 1914 * Falkland Islands, 1914 * Jutland, 1916 * Falkland Islands, 1982

In fiction

* HMS Invincible, an aircraft carrier in the 1941 film '' Ships with Wings'', portrayed by

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Invincible, Hms Royal Navy ship names

Battle honours

In fiction

See also

References