Six ships and a

shore establishment A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. "Stone frigate" is an informal term that has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French in 1803–04. ...

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 ''Britannia'', after

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

, the goddess and personification of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

: * was 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 1682, rebuilt in 1719 and broken up in 1749. * was a 100-gun first rate launched in 1762. She was renamed HMS ''Princess Royal'' in 1812, HMS ''St George'' later in 1812, and HMS ''Barfleur'' in 1819. She was broken up in 1825. * was a 120-gun first rate ship of the line launched in 1820. She was a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

after 1859, and broken up in 1869. * , a 120-gun first rate ship of the line renamed ''Britannia'' in 1869, as she replaced the previous vessel in the cadet training role. She was broken up in 1916. * was a ''King Edward VII''-class

pre-dreadnought battleship Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...

launched in 1904 and sunk by in 1918. * HMS ''Britannia'' Royal Naval College was the name given to the Naval Shore Establishment formed from the earlier ''Britannia''s. It retained the name until 1953, when it became known as HMS ''Dartmouth''.

See also