Eleven ships and a shore establishment 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 Cormorant, after the seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

, the cormorant

Cormorant

The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...

:
was a 16-gun fireship, previously the French Marchault. She was captured in 1757 and sold in 1762. was a 14-gun 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 1776 and captured by the French in 1781. was a 12-gun brig-sloop, previously the American Rattlesnake. She was captured in 1781, renamed HMS Rattlesnake in 1783, and sold in 1786. was an 18-gun Cormorant-class

Cormorant class ship-sloop

The Cormorant class were built as a 16-gun class of ship-sloops for the Royal Navy, although an extra 2 guns were added soon after completion.-Design:...

 ship-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 1794 and destroyed by an accidental explosion in 1796. was a 20-gun sixth rate, previously the French Etna. She was captured in 1796 and wrecked in 1800 was a 16-gun sloop, formerly the civilian Blenheim. She was purchased in 1804 and sold in 1817. was a paddlewheel sloop launched in 1842 and broken up in 1853. was a screw gunvessel launched in 1856 and sunk in 1859. was a screw sloop launched in 1860 and sold in 1870. was an Osprey-class

Osprey class sloop

The Osprey class was a Royal Navy class of screw-driven sloops built between 1874 and 1877. Nine additional ships were built to a revised design, the . They were the first class of ship in the Royal Navy to use glass scuttles.-Design:...

 composite screw sloop launched in 1877, reduced to harbour service in 1889, renamed HMS Rooke in 1946, and broken up in 1949. was a patrol boat launched in 1975 as HMAFV Sunderland for the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

. She was transferred to the Royal Navy in 1985 and was sold in 1991.

Other ships

• Cormorant II was a trawler hired between 1915 and 1919.
• Cormorant III was a drifter
  Drifter (fishing boat)
  A drifter is a type of fishing boat. They were designed to catch herrings in a long drift net. Herring fishing using drifters has a long history in the Netherlands and in many British fishing ports, particularly in East Scottish ports....
  
  hired between 1915 and 1919.
• Cormorant IV was a trawler hired between 1916 and 1919.