Ten 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 borne the name HMS Contest:
or Gunboat No. 16 was a 14-gun vessel launched in 1797 and broken up in 1799. was a 5-gun gun-brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

, previously the Dutch Hell-hound. She was captured in 1799 and broken up in 1803. was a 14-gun schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 purchased in 1799 and broken up later that year. was a 12-gun gun-brig launched in 1804, which foundered in 1809. was a 12-gun gun-brig launched in 1812 and wrecked in 1828. was a 12-gun brig launched in 1846 and broken up in 1868. was a composite screw gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

 launched in 1874 and scrapped in 1889. was a Banshee class

Banshee class destroyer

The 'Banshee class was a class of three torpedo boat destroyers that served with the Royal Navy into the early part of the Twentieth century....

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 launched in 1894 and sold in 1911. was an Acasta class

Acasta class destroyer

The Acasta class was a class of twenty destroyers built for the Royal Navy under the Naval Programme of 1911 - 1912 that saw service during World War I...

 destroyer launched in 1913 and sunk by SM U-106

SM U-106

SM U-106 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-106 was commissioned on 28 Jul 1917, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans Hufnagel, and participated in one wartime patrol starting on 2 September 1917...

 in 1917. was a C class

C class destroyer (1943)

The C class was a class of 32 destroyers of the Royal Navy that were launched from 1943 to 1945. The class was built in four flotillas of 8 vessels, the Ca, Ch, Co and Cr classes, ordered as the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Emergency Flotillas respectively...

destroyer launched in 1944 and sold in 1960.