This is an alphabetical list of thenames of all ships that have been in service with theRoyal Navy, or with predecessor fleets formally in the service of theKingdom of England or theCommonwealth of England. The list also includes fictional vessels which have prominently featured in literature about the Royal Navy. Names are traditionally re-used over the years, and have been carried by more than one ship.
Altogether over 13,000 ships have been in service with the Royal Navy.[1]
Unlike many other naval services, the Royal Navy designates certain types of shore establishment (e.g.barracks,naval air stations andtraining establishments) as "ships" and names them accordingly. These establishments are often referred to in service slang asstone frigates.
Many novels and films about the Royal Navy feature fictional ships, but most use real names. This is a list of fictional names of note. Where real ship names are used fictionally, there is a link to the actual ships using that name.
The original 1920s edition of theH. P. Gibson naval board gameDover Patrol used a number of real RN ship names, but generally attached them to different ship classes. Thus the "Flagships" were H.M.S.Nelson andDrake, and the "Super Dreadnoughts" were H.M.S.Australia,New Zealand,Canada andIndia, but few of these resembled the actual ships with the same names in the drawings used on the playing pieces. The "Dreadnoughts" were given all new 'County' names: H.M.S.Surrey,Middlesex,Lancashire andYorkshire, and the "Battle Cruisers" had 'Town' names: H.M.S.London,Birmingham,Liverpool,Manchester,Edinburgh andGlasgow. "Light Cruisers" had animal names:Lion,Tiger,Panther,Greyhound,Antelope,Zebra,Viper andVixen; "Destroyers" had 'Bird' names:Albatross,Eagle,Hawk,Heron,Kingfisher,Seagull,Raven andVulture; and "Auxiliary Cruisers" were given insect names:Ant,Bee,Firefly,Gnat,Grasshopper,Hornet,Mosquito andWasp. In the revised edition of the game published after World War II, the "Flagships" and "Vice Flagships" were unnamed, but all the other names shown above were retained, including the four wholly fictional county names given to the "Battleships" (reclassified from "Dreadnoughts").
Ventnor,Victor,Warden,Warlock,Waxwing,Whiplash andWhirlpool (members of a flotilla of fictionalV and W-classdestroyers in the novelThe Destroyers byDouglas Reeman)
Wildebeeste (almost certainly a destroyer, operating alongside the main character's unnamed destroyer in the novelPincher Martin byWilliam Golding)
