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 F ...
have borne the name HMS ''Royal James'':
* , a 70-gun
second-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...
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 ...
launched in 1658 as the ''Richard'', renamed in 1660 when she was reclassed as a
first rate
In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era
The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scot ...
, and burnt by the Dutch in 1667.
* , a 100-gun
first-rate
In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at ...
ship of the line launched in 1671, and burnt in action in 1672.
[Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . pp161, 165.]
* , a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line launched in 1675, renamed HMS ''Victory'' in 1691, rebuilt in 1695 and destroyed by fire in 1721.
See also
*
Stede Bonnet
Stede Bonnet (1688 – 10 December 1718) was an early 18th-century English/Barbadian pirate, also known as the Gentleman Pirate for the reason that he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born in ...
and
Edward England
Edward England ( –1721) was an Irish pirate. The ships he sailed on included the ''Pearl'' (which he renamed ''The Royal James'') and later the ''Fancy'', for which England exchanged the ''Pearl'' in 1720. His flag was the classic Joll ...
, two 18th-century pirates whose ships were named ''Royal James''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal James, Hms
Royal Navy ship names