Six 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 F ...
have borne the name HMS ''Nassau'', after
King William III who was of the
House of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...
, with the
County of Nassau being a subsidiary holding of that family:
* was a 4-gun
fluyt captured from the
Dutch in 1672 and given away later that year.
* was an 80-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
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...
launched in 1699 and wrecked in 1706.
* was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1706, rebuilt in 1740 and sold in 1770.
* was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1785. She was converted into a 36-gun
troopship in 1799 and was wrecked later that year.
*
HMS ''Nassau'' was a 64-gun third rate originally named HMS ''Holstein'', which the British captured at the
Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. She was renamed HMS ''Nassau'' in 1805 and was sold in 1814.
* was a wooden screw
gunvessel
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-steam ...
launched in 1866, having been completed as a survey ship. She was broken up in 1880.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nassau
Royal Navy ship names