Fifteen 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 ''Speedwell'': * was a

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

captured from the French in 1560 and broken up in 1580. * was a 41-gun

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch War ...

, rebuilt in 1592, renamed ''Speedwell'' and rearmed to 40 guns in 1607, and was lost in 1624. * was a 20-gun ship, renamed HMS ''Speedwell'' in 1660, and wrecked in 1676. * was an 8-gun

fireship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

purchased in 1688 and sunk as a

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

in 1692. * was an 8-gun fireship, rebuilt in 1702 as a 28-gun

fifth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

, and wrecked in 1720. * was a 14-gun

sloop-of-war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

launched in 1744 and sold in 1750. * was an 8-gun sloop, converted to a fireship and renamed HMS ''Spitfire'' in 1779, and sold in 1780. * was a cutter of unknown origin, that the French captured in 1761. * was an 18-gun sloop listed in 1775 that the captured on 26 October 1781 near

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. * was a 16-gun cutter purchased in 1780, converted to a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

in 1796, and foundered in 1807. * was a 5-gun

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

purchased in 1815 and sold in 1834. * was a survey cutter purchased in 1841 and sold in 1855. * was a wooden screw launched in 1861 and broken up in 1876. * was a

torpedo gunboat In late 19th-century naval terminology, torpedo gunboats were a form of gunboat armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller torpedo boats. By the end of the 1890s torpedo gunboats were superseded by their more successful c ...

, converted to a

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

in 1909, and was sold in 1920. * was a launched in 1935, renamed ''Topaz'' and sold into civilian service in 1946. * ''Speedwell'', possibly a Revenue cutter or a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, captured two French privateers in early December 1782 near Weymouth. One was ''Complaisant'',''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and is ...

'', no. 142

and the other was '' Poisson Volant''. This ''Speedwell'' does not appear to be HMS ''Speedwell'' as at that time the latter was at Gibraltar.

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speedwell, Hms Royal Navy ship names

See also

Citations