Three 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 F ...
have borne the name HMS ''Reliance'', whilst a fourth was planned:
* was a discovery vessel purchased in 1793. She became famous as one of the ships with the early explorations of the Australian coast and other the southern Pacific islands. She was used for harbour service from 1800 and was sold in 1815.
* was a 12-gun tender in service between 1812 and 1815.
* was a repair ship, previously the civilian ship ''Knight Companion''. She was purchased in 1912 and was sold in 1919.
* HMS ''Reliance'' was to have been a repair ship. She was launched in 1944 as the
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...
SS ''Dutiful'' and it was intended that she would be transferred to the Royal Navy under the terms of
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
. She was instead retained by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
and commissioned into their service as .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reliance, Hms
Royal Navy ship names