Sixteen vessels and two
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. ...
s 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 ''Phoenix'', after the legendary
phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
bird.
The earliest example of the use of HMS as an abbreviation is a reference to HMS ''Phoenix'' in 1789.
Ships
* , a 20-gun ship purchased in 1546, rebuilt in 1558, and sold in 1573.
* , a 20-gun ship launched in 1613 and in the records until 1624.
* , a 38-gun ship launched in 1647, in Dutch hands for several months in 1652, and wrecked in 1664.
* , a Dutch ship captured in 1665 and sunk as a
blockship
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914 ...
in 1667.
* , a 42-gun
fifth rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower.
Rating
The rating system in the Royal ...
launched in 1671. She was upgraded to a 42-gun
fourth-rate
In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...
in 1674, but reverted to a 36-gun fifth rate in 1691. She was burnt in 1692 to prevent her capture.
* , an 8-gun
bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounted ...
purchased in 1692 and sold in 1698.
* , an 8-gun
fire ship
A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...
launched in 1694, rebuilt in 1709 as a 24-gun
sixth-rate and rebuilt again in 1727. She was hulked in 1742 and sold in 1744.
* , a 24-gun
post ship
Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a ship of the sixth rate (see rating system of the Royal Navy) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carr ...
launched in 1743, used as a
hospital hulk after 1755, and was sold in 1762.
* , a 44-gun fifth rate launched in 1759 and lost in a
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
off
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
in 1780.
* , a 36-gun fifth rate launched in 1783 and wrecked in 1816 in the Bay of Chisme near
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
when a sudden change of wind threw her on the shore.
* , a wooden paddle
sloop launched in 1832, converted to screw propulsion in 1845, and sold in 1864.
* , a composite
screw sloop
A screw sloop is a propeller-driven sloop-of-war. In the 19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine, ships driven by propellers were differentiated from those driven by paddle-wheels by referring to the ship's ''screws'' (propelle ...
launched in 1879 and wrecked on the east point of Prince Edward Island, Canada, in 1882, with no loss of life.
[Gossett (1986), p. 122.]
* , a launched in 1895 and capsized 1906 in a
typhoon
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
at
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
.
* , a launched in 1889. She was renamed HMS ''Tauranga'' in 1890 and was sold in 1906.
* , an launched in 1911 and sunk 1918 by the Austro-Hungarian submarine .
* , a launched in 1929 and sunk by an Italian
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
in 1940.
Shore establishments
* , a Royal Navy aircraft repair yard in Egypt, in commission between 1941 and 1946.
*HMS ''Phoenix'' was the name initially selected to replace HMS ''Ferret'', the anti-submarine school at Londonderry. HMS ''Sea Eagle'' was used instead.
* , a fire fighting training establishment in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, in commission between 1946 and 1993.
References
*
*Gossett, William Patrick (1986) ''The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900''. (London: Mansell).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phoenix, Hms
Royal Navy ship names