There have been five ships of the Royal Navy to bear the name HMS ''Urchin'' after the

Sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

: * was a gunvessel of 154 tons (bm), purchased in 1797 and stationed at Gibraltar. On 3 and 5 July 1797, she participated in an attack by Captain

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

on Spanish gunboats during the Blockade of Cádiz (1797). Her commander, Lieutenant F. Browne, drowned in March 1799. His replacement apparently was Lieutenant William Davies. She was under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Pearson Croasdale and had a skeleton crew of only seven men when towed her in Tetuan Bay on 12 October 1800. Around midnight she capsized and sank, and although ''Hector'' lowered boats, they were only able to save two men. * was a gunboat of unknown origin. In December 1800 she shared with the frigate and the sloop in the capture of three French merchant vessels carrying coffee, rice and sugar from Alexandria to France: the polacca ''Union'' (5 December), brig ''Bon Pasteur Retrouvé'' (7 December), and brig ''Heureuse Clairon'' (13 December). Then, under Lieutenant William Smith, she participated in Lord Keith's expedition to Egypt. Because ''Urchin'' served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified to share in the prize money for the campaign, and to receive the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt" that 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, Tr ...

issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants. ''Urchin'' disappears from the record after 1801. * was a modified R-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, launched in 1917 and sold in 1930. * HMS ''Urchin'' was a U-class

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

, launched in 1940, and commissioned into the Polish Navy as . She was returned to Britain in 1946, reverting to the name HMS ''Urchin'', and was scrapped in 1949. * was a U-class destroyer launched in 1943, and that served in the Second World War. She was converted into a Type 15 fast

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

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 ...

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