Two 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 ''Leith'', after the historic Scottish port of

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

: * was launched in 1744 or 1746 in the British "Plantations", more specifically, the colony of Maryland as the merchant ship ''Leith''. From 1764 to 1777 she traded with Greenland as a

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

. Between 1777 and 1782 she served the

as a transport and hired armed

naval ship A naval ship is a military ship (or sometimes boat, depending on classification) used by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose. Generally, naval ships are Damage control, damage resilient a ...

. She was last listed in 1783. * was a sloop launched in 1933 and sold in 1946 into civilian service. She was renamed ''Byron'' and ''Friendship'' before being acquired by the

Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and Greenland). O ...

in 1949 and renamed HDMS ''Galathea''. She was sold for scrap in 1955.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leith, Hms Royal Navy ship names

See also

References