His (or Her) Majesty's Ship, abbreviated HMS and H.M.S., is the

ship prefix A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/na ...

used for ships of the navy in some monarchies. Derivative terms such as HMAS and equivalents in other languages such as SMS are used.

Commonwealth Realms

United Kingdom

With regard to the separate English and Scottish navies of the medieval period and

early modern era The early modern period is a historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There is no exact date ...

, historians usually use terms such as "English Ship" or "Scottish Ship". During the late 17th century, following the Restoration, the name Royal Navy was officially adopted, as well as the prefix His Majesty's Ship, and later, Her Majesty's Ship. The first recorded use of the abbreviated form HMS was in 1789, in respect of HMS ''Phoenix''. From 1707 to circa 1800 HBMS (for ''His Britannic Majesty's Ship'') was also used. Submarines in His Majesty's service also use the prefix HMS, standing for ''His Majesty's Submarine'', though this is sometimes rendered HMS/m. (See, for example
HMS/m ''Tireless''
at

IWM IWM may refer to: * Imperial War Museum, British national museum organisation * Information Warfare Monitor * iShares Russell 2000 Index, with the NYSE Arca symbol IWM * Integrated Woz Machine, Apple computer floppy drives * Intelligent worklo ...

). The Royal Yacht ''Britannia'', which was a commissioned ship in the Royal Navy, was known as HMY ''Britannia''. Otherwise all ships in the Royal Navy are known as HM Ships, though formerly when a distinction was made between three-masted ship-rigged ships and smaller vessels they would be called HM Frigate ''X'', or HM Sloop ''Y''. The prefix HMS is also used by shore establishments that are commissioned "

stone frigate A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. 'Stone frigate' is an informal term which has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy (RN), after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the First French ...

s" in the Royal Navy. Examples include HMS ''Excellent'', a training school located on an island in

Portsmouth Harbour Portsmouth Harbour is a / biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Portsmouth and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area. It is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it ...

, and HMS ''Vulcan'', in

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

area of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, which is established to test the design of

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

systems for use in submarines. The sample ship name used by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

to signify a hypothetical vessel is . This ''is'' a name that has been used by the

in the past; on the eve of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the name was given to the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

. HMCS ''Nonsuch'' was the "

" of the Edmonton Division of the Canadian Naval Reserve. Prefixing the name by "the", as in "the HMS Ark Royal", while common, is considered bad grammar. British government ships not in the Royal Navy have other designations, such as RFA for ships in the ''

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RF ...

''.

Use outside the United Kingdom

Historically, variants on HMS have been used by the navies of British colonies. The practice is maintained in several

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has the same constitutional monarch and head of state as the other realms. The current monarch is King Charles III. Except for the United Kingdom, in each of the re ...

s – states in which the monarch of the UK is head of state – as well as other Commonwealth countries and former members of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

Current

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

His Majesty's Canadian Ship The designation His Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS; CSM, is applied as a Ship prefix, prefix to surface ships in the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Joint Operations Command. The similar designation of His Majesty's Canadian Submarine is appl ...

(HMCS) / () (NCSM) –

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

: His Majesty's Australian Ship (HMAS) –

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

: His Majesty's New Zealand Ship (HMNZS) –

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; ) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of eight ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser , whi ...

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

: His Majesty's Bahamian Ship (HMBS) – Royal Bahamas Defence Force *

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

: His Majesty's Papua New Guinean Ship (HMPNGS) - Papua New Guinea Defence ForceAustralian War Memorial Glossary
*

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

: His Majesty's Jamaican Ship (HMJS) – Jamaica Defence Force *

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...

: His Majesty's Tuvalu State Ship (HMTSS)

Former

* Colonial: Her Majesty's Colonial Ship (HMCS) *

: Commonwealth Naval Ship (CNS) *

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

: His Majesty's Burmese Ship (HMBS) *

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

: Her Majesty's Barbadian Ship (HMBS) –

Barbados Defence Force The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) is the name given to the combined armed forces of Barbados. The BDF was established 15 August 1979, and has responsibility for the territorial defence and internal security of the island. The Headquarters for the ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

: His Majesty's South African Ship (HMSAS) / () (SMSA) -

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prote ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

: Her Majesty's Ceylon Ship (HMCyS) *

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

: Her Majesty's Fijian Ship (HMFS) *

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

: His Majesty's Indian Ship (HMIS) *

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

(before the

federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Wester ...

): Her Majesty's Queensland Ship (HMQS) * Victoria (before the federation of Australia): Her Majesty's Victorian Ship (HMVS) *

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

: His Majesty's Pakistan Ship (HMPS)

Denmark

All

Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy (, ) is the Naval warfare, sea-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Denmark, Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and ...

ships carry the ship prefix KDM (''Kongelige Danske Marine'') in Danish, but this is translated to HDMS (''Her / His Danish Majesty's Ship'') in English.

Germany

(; ; abbreviated to S.M.S. or SMS) was the

used by the Prussian Maritime Enterprise (''Seehandlung''), the

Prussian Navy The Prussian Navy (German language, German: ''Preußische Marine''), officially the Royal Prussian Navy (German Language, German: ''Königlich Preußische Marine''), was the naval force of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1867. The Prussian N ...

, the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

(''Kaiserliche Marine'') and the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', ) was the navy, naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were designated ''SMS'', for ''Seiner Majestät Schiff'' (His Majes ...

(''Kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine''). It was created by translating the British prefix into German. It was sometimes also abbreviated to S.M. or SM (for ''Seiner Majestät'') when a ship was mentioned by class, such as ''S.M. Kleiner Kreuzer Emden'' ("His Majesty's Light Cruiser Emden"). Special forms included * S.M.Y. (or SMY) = ''Seiner Majestät Yacht'' ("His Majesty's Yacht") for king's or emperor's

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

* I.M.Y. = ''Ihrer Majestät Yacht'' ("Her Majesty's Yacht") for the queen's or empress's yacht. * S.M.F. = ''Seiner Majestät Feuerschiff'' ("His Majesty's

Lightvessel A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the ...

") * S.M.H. = ''Seiner Majestät Hilfsschiff'' ("His Majesty's

Auxiliary Ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxili ...

") * S.M.W. = ''Seiner Majestät Werkstattschiff'' ("His Majesty's Workshop Ship") * S.M.U. = ''Seiner Majestät Unterseeboot'' ("His Majesty's Submarine", prefixing a number not a name)

Netherlands

International prefixes for ships of the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

is HNLMS (''His/Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship''). The Netherlands navy itself uses the prefixes Zr.Ms. (''Zijner Majesteits'', ''His Majesty's'') when a king is on the throne, and Hr.Ms. (''Harer Majesteits'', ''Her Majesty's'') when there is a queen. Changes happen automatically at the beginning of a new monarch's reign.

Norway

The

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

vessels have since 1946 been given the

KNM, short for ''K''ongelig ''N''orske ''M''arine (Royal Norwegian Navy). In English, they are given the prefix HNoMS, short for "''H''is/Her ''No''rwegian ''M''ajesty's ''S''hip" (HNMS could be also used for the

, for which HNLMS is used instead). Coast Guard vessels are given the prefix KV for ''K''yst''V''akt (Coast Guard) in Norwegian and NoCGV for ''No''rwegian ''C''oast ''G''uard ''V''essel in English.

Romania

Prior to

, the subsequent ousting of the monarchy of Romania on 30 December 1947 and post-war

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

occupation, all Royal Romanian Navy vessels were given the prefix NMS which stands for ''Nava Majestăţii Sale'' which translates to ''His/her Majesty's Ship'' in English.

Sweden

In the

Royal Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

, all vessels are given the prefix HMS (''Hans'' or ''Hennes Majestäts Skepp'', ''His'' or ''Her Majesty's Ship''). This is true for both surface and submarine vessels.Ordbok: "H"
''Försvarsmakten'' Abroad, Swedish navy ships are sometimes given the prefix HSwMS (for ''His Swedish Majesty's Ship''), to avoid confusion with other uses of the HMS prefix.

Thailand

In the

Royal Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy (Abbreviation, Abrv: RTN, ทร.; , ) is the Navy, naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known as the father of the Royal N ...

, ships with a displacement of 150 tons or more use the prefix เรือหลวง ("Royal Ship"), abbreviated ร.ล. meaning ships belonging to the Thai King. In English, the abbreviation HTMS or H.T.M.S. comes from the word ''His Thai Majesty's Ship''. For the name of the ship, it must be granted by the King.

Tonga

In the Tongan Maritime Force, commissioned ships use the prefix ''Vaka O Ene Afio'', abbreviated "VOEA", meaning "His Majesty's Vessel" in Tongan. The initialism is usually left untranslated in English.

References

{{Reflist Ship prefixes