Six ships of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 have been named HMS Amethyst, whilst another was planned:
was a 36-gun fifth-rate

Fifth-rate

In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.-Rating:...

 frigate, originally the French Perle captured in 1793 and wrecked in 1795. was a Penelope-class 36-gun fifth rate launched in 1799 and wrecked in 1811. was a Spartan-class 26-gun sixth rate launched in 1844 and sold in 1869 for use as a cable vessel. was an Amethyst-class screw corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

 launched in 1871 and sold in 1887. was a Topaze-class cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

 launched in 1903 and scrapped in 1920. was a modified Black Swan-class

Black Swan class sloop

The Black Swan class and Modified Black Swan class were two classes of sloop of the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Navy. Thirteen Black Swans were launched between 1939 and 1943, including four for the Royal Indian Navy; twenty-four Modified Black Swans were launched between 1942 and 1945, including...

 sloop

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

 launched in 1943. She was later designated as a frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

, was involved in the Yangtze Incident in 1949 and was broken up in 1957.

• HMS Amethyst was to have been a River-class
  River class minesweeper
  The River class was a class of minesweeper built for the British Royal Navy in the 1980s, designated Fleet Minesweepers .-Design:The Rivers were built with a traditional steel hull to a design based on a commercial offshore support vessel...
  
   minesweeper
  Minesweeper (ship)
  A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
  
  . She was renamed before being launched in 1983, and was sold to the Bangladeshi Navy in 1994, being renamed Shapla.

See also

• HM Trawler Amethyst (T12) was an anti-submarine trawler
  Naval trawler
  A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...
  
   requisitioned in 1935 and sunk by a mine on 24 November 1940.
• Amethyst was the Royal Navy's bridge simulator in the 1990s at HMS Dryad
  HMS Dryad (establishment)
  HMS Dryad was a stone frigate . It was the home of the Royal Navy's Maritime Warfare School until 2004.Originally the school was based in Portsmouth Dockyard. The establishment took its name from the ship used as its tender, the fourth HMS Dryad. During World War II it was moved to Southwick House...
  
  , named after the Black Swan-class .