Fifteen ships of the British

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 carried the name HMS ''Tiger'' after the feline

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

, with a number of others provisionally bearing the name at various stages in their construction: 'HMS' - the abbreviation for 'His' or 'Her Majesty's Ship' is an anachronism before about 1820, when it became a common use by ship commanders; its accepted use by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

did not happen until some years later. * ''Tiger'' (1546) was a 22-gun ship built in 1546, rebuilt in 1570, which was the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of the 1586 expedition to the

Roanoke Colony The establishment of the Roanoke Colony ( ) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The English, led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had briefly claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in 15 ...

. In use as a

floating battery A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...

after 1600, she was condemned in 1605. * was a discovery vessel recorded in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

in 1613. * was a 32-gun ship launched in 1647, rebuilt in 1681, 1701, 1705 and 1721, and wrecked in 1742. * HMS ''Tiger'' was a 50-gun

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

renamed ''Harwich'' shortly before launching in 1743. She was wrecked in 1760. * was a 60-gun fourth rate launched in 1747. She was hulked in 1761 and sold in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in 1765. * was a 74-gun

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

, previously the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. She was captured in 1762 and sold in 1784. * HMS ''Tiger'' was a 64-gun third rate launched in 1764 as . She was captured by the French in 1764, but was recaptured in 1782 and renamed HMS ''Tiger''. She was sold in 1784. * HMS ''Tiger'' was to have been a 50-gun fourth rate, but she was renamed before her launch in 1802. * was a 4-gun

hoy Hoy ( sco, Hoy; from Norse , meaning "high island") is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring – the second largest in the archipelago, after Mainland. A natural causeway, ''the Ayre'', links the island to the smaller South Walls; the two ...

purchased in 1794 and sold in 1798. * was an 80-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 ...

captured from the French in 1795. She was

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...

by 1817. * was a 12-gun

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 service from 1808 to 1812. * was a wooden-hulled paddle

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

launched in 1849, reclassified as a

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 ...

in 1852, and was destroyed in action with the

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

off

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

in 1854. * was a launched in 1900. She was sunk in 1908 in a collision with the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

. * 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 ...

launched in 1913 and scrapped in 1932. * HMS ''Tiger'' was to have been a

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

. She was initially ordered in 1942, but renamed HMS ''Bellerophon'' later that year and was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in 1944. She was renamed HMS ''Blake'' in 1944, HMS ''Bellerophon'' again in 1945 and was cancelled in 1946. * HMS ''Tiger'' was another proposed ''Minotaur''-class cruiser, initially ordered as HMS ''Blake''. She was renamed HMS ''Tiger'' in 1944, and then HMS ''Blake'' again in 1945. After work was suspended in 1946, she was completed and launched in 1961 as . * was another ''Minotaur''-class cruiser, initially ordered as HMS ''Bellerophon''. She was renamed and launched as HMS ''Tiger'' in 1945. She was laid up in 1946 and completed in 1959 as a cruiser. She was scrapped in 1986.

Battle honours

Ships named ''Tiger'' have earned the following

battle honours A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

: * Armada, 1588 *

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 1653 * Gabbard, 1653 *

Scheveningen Scheveningen is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict (''wijk'') of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is po ...

, 1653 *

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

, 1665 *

Orfordness Orford Ness is a cuspate foreland shingle spit on the Suffolk coast in Great Britain, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh and stretching along the coast to Orford and down to North Weir Point, opposite Shingle Street. It is divided from the m ...

, 1666 * Sole Bay, 1672 *

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...

, 1705 *

Sadras Sadras is a fortress town located on India's Coromandel Coast in Chengalpattu district, 70 km south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. ''Sadras'' is the anglicised form of the ancient town of ''Saduranga pattinam''. History and Etymology An i ...

, 1758 *

Negapatam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

, 1758 *

Porto Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Gu ...

, 1759 *

Basque Roads Basque Roads, sometimes referred to as ''Aix Roads'', is a roadstead (a sheltered bay) on the Biscay shore of the Charente-Maritime département of France, bounded by the Île d'Oléron to the west and the Île de Ré to the north. The port of La ...

, 1809 *

Dogger Bank Dogger Bank (Dutch: ''Doggersbank'', German: ''Doggerbank'', Danish: ''Doggerbanke'') is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. During the last ice age the bank was part of a large landmass c ...

, 1915 *

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

, 1916

Battle honours

See also