Four 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 been named HMS ''Bellerophon'' after the hero Bellerophon in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, whilst another two were planned: * , nicknamed the "Billy Ruffian", was a 74-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 ...

launched in 1786 that fought at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

in 1805. She became a

prison ship A prison ship, often more accurately described as a prison hulk, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. While many nat ...

in 1815, was renamed HMS ''Captivity'' in 1824, and was sold in 1836. * , was an 80-gun third rate, originally named HMS ''Talavera'' but renamed before her launch in 1818. She was renamed HMS ''Bellerophon'' in 1824, relegated to harbour service in 1848. She then saw active service at Sebastopol during the Crimean War 1854–1856. Her gun crews manned off-loaded guns ashore and were nicknamed "The Bellerophon Doves". She sustained some damage during the bombardment of Sebastopol and was finally sold for breaking up in 1892. * was an ironclad battleship launched in 1865. She was renamed ''Indus III'' in 1904 and used for training, and was sold in 1922. * was a

dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

battleship launched in 1907. She saw service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, including the Battle of Jutland, and was sold for breaking up in 1921. * HMS ''Bellerophon'' was to have been a . She was ordered in 1942, but was renamed before construction started in 1944. * HMS ''Bellerophon'' was to have been a ''Minotaur''-class cruiser. She was renamed in 1945 whilst under construction and was launched later that year.

See also