Nine 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 ...
have borne the name HMS ''Ruby'':
* was initially a 40-gun warship launched in 1652. She fought in the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
as part of a fleet under
Admiral John Benbow
Vice-Admiral John Benbow (10 March 16534 November 1702) was an English officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the navy aged 25 years, seeing action against Algerian pirates before leaving and joining the merchant navy where he traded until the ...
. She was rebuilt in 1706 carrying between 46 and 54 guns.
[Lavery, SoLv1 p. 167] and captured in 1707 by the French ship ''Mars''.
* was a 66-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 ...
ship of the line, originally the French ship ''Rubis''. She was captured in 1666, hulked after sustaining storm damage in 1682 and broken up in 1685.
* was a 54-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 ...
ship of the line launched in 1708. She was renamed HMS ''Mermaid'' in 1744 and was sold in 1748.
* was a 50-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1745 and broken up in 1765.
* HMS ''Rubis'' (1747), , a 52-gun ship of the line, captured in 1747 and taken into service as HMS ''Rubis'' and condemned in 1748.
* was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1776 that served at Bermuda between 1811 and her breaking up in 1821.
* was an iron paddle tender launched in 1842 and sold in 1846.
* was a wood screw
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-ste ...
launched in 1854 and broken up in 1868.
* was an composite screw
corvette launched in 1876. She was converted to a coal hulk in 1904 and renamed ''C 10''. She was sold in 1921.
* was an launched in 1910 and sold in 1921.
There was also , a 44-gun French privateer that HMS ''Ruby'' captured in 1694 and that the Navy sold in 1698. She became a merchantman and was lost at
Mayotte
Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loca ...
in 1799.
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruby, Hms
Royal Navy ship names