Five 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 ''Hercules'', or HMS ''Hercule'', after the Greek and Roman hero
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the ...
. Another was launched, but never served in the Navy:
* was a
74-gun
The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...
third rate launched in 1759 and sold in 1784.
*
HMS ''Hercule'' was a 74-gun third rate captured by in 1798 and broken up in 1810.
* was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1815. She was used for harbour service from 1853 and was sold in 1865.
* was an
ironclad battleship launched in 1868. She was used for harbour service from 1881, as a barracks from 1905, was renamed HMS ''Calcutta'' in 1909, HMS ''Fisgard II'' in 1915, and was sold in 1932.
* was a battleship launched in 1910 and sold for breaking up in 1921.
* was a light fleet
aircraft carrier launched in 1945, but not completed until purchased by India in 1957. Commissioned in 1961 as , she was paid off in 1997 and was a
museum ship between 2001 and 2012. She was scrapped in 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hercules, Hms
Royal Navy ship names