HMS Discovery
Encyclopedia
Eleven ships of the Royal Navy
and a reserve shore establishment of the Canadian Navy
have borne the name HMS/HMCS Discovery, while ships of other branches have also used the name:
was a discovery vessel
in service between 1600 and 1620. was a 20-gun ship purchased in 1651 and burnt in 1655. was a 6-gun ketch
launched in 1692 and broken up in 1705. was a discovery sloop
lost in the Arctic in 1719. was a 6-gun storeship purchased in 1741 and sold in 1750. was an 8-gun discovery vessel launched in 1774 as the civilian collier Diligence. She was acquired in 1775, and accompanied HMS Resolution on Captain James Cook
's third voyage of exploration from 1776 to 1780. She became a dockyard transport in 1781 and was broken up in 1797. was a 10-gun sloop
launched and purchased in 1789. She was commanded by Captain George Vancouver
on his voyage of exploration from 1791 to 1795. She was converted to a bomb vessel
in 1799, a convict ship
in 1818 and was broken up in 1834. was a survey vessel in service in 1800 and sold in 1828.
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...
and a reserve shore establishment of the Canadian Navy
Canadian Forces Maritime Command
The Royal Canadian Navy , is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Forces. Operating 33 warships and several auxiliary vessels, the Royal Canadian Navy consists of 8,500 Regular Force and 5,100 Primary Reserve sailors, supported by...
have borne the name HMS/HMCS Discovery, while ships of other branches have also used the name:
was a discovery vessel
Survey vessel
A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for mapping. It is a type of research vessel.-Role:The task of survey vessels is to map the bottom, benthic zone, full water column, and surface for the purpose of:* hydrography* general oceanography...
in service between 1600 and 1620. was a 20-gun ship purchased in 1651 and burnt in 1655. was a 6-gun ketch
Ketch
A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...
launched in 1692 and broken up in 1705. was a discovery sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
lost in the Arctic in 1719. was a 6-gun storeship purchased in 1741 and sold in 1750. was an 8-gun discovery vessel launched in 1774 as the civilian collier Diligence. She was acquired in 1775, and accompanied HMS Resolution on Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
's third voyage of exploration from 1776 to 1780. She became a dockyard transport in 1781 and was broken up in 1797. was a 10-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 and purchased in 1789. She was commanded by Captain George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
on his voyage of exploration from 1791 to 1795. She was converted to a bomb vessel
Bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon —although bomb vessels carried a few cannon for self-defence—but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a...
in 1799, a convict ship
Convict ship
The term convict ship is a colloquial term used to describe any ship engaged on a voyage to carry convicted felons under sentence of penal transportation from their place of conviction to their place of exile.-Colonial practice:...
in 1818 and was broken up in 1834. was a survey vessel in service in 1800 and sold in 1828.
- HMS Discovery was to have been a wood screw gunvessel. She was ordered in 1861 but was cancelled in 1863. was a wood screw storeship, formerly the civilian Bloodhound, purchased in 1874. She was commanded by Captain George NaresGeorge NaresVice-Admiral Sir George Strong Nares KCB FRS was a British naval officer and Arctic explorer. He commanded both the Challenger Expedition and the British Arctic Expedition, and was highly thought of a leader and a scientific explorer...
during the British Arctic ExpeditionBritish Arctic ExpeditionThe British Arctic Expedition of 1875-1876, led by Sir George Strong Nares, was sent by the British Admiralty to attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound. Two ships, HMS Alert and HMS Discovery , sailed from Portsmouth on 29 May 1875...
between 1875 and 1876. She was sold in 1902. - HMS DiscoveryRRS DiscoveryThe RRS Discovery was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain. Designed for Antarctic research, she was launched in 1901. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful...
was a purpose-built survey ship launched in 1901. She was commanded by Captain Robert Falcon ScottRobert Falcon ScottCaptain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
during the Discovery ExpeditionDiscovery ExpeditionThe British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, generally known as the Discovery Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage sixty years earlier...
to the Antarctic in 1901, and was sold in 1905. She was re-designated RRSRoyal Research ShipA Royal Research Ship is a British-operated merchant ship that conducts research for British Government scientific research organisations, notably the British Antarctic Survey and the Natural Environment Research Council...
(Royal Research Ship) Discovery in 1923, repurchased in 1929 as a training ship, and was handed over for preserving as a museum shipMuseum shipA museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
in 1979. - HMCS DiscoveryHMCS DiscoveryHMCS Discovery is a Royal Canadian Navy Reserve division and shore facility based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Created during World War II from the Vancouver Half Company of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve, Discovery was used for recruitment and training, and provided almost 8,000...
, the Vancouver stone frigateStone frigateStone frigate is a nickname for a naval establishment on land. The term has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French...
of the Canadian Forces Maritime Command reserve, established as a volunteer half-company of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer ReserveRoyal Canadian Naval Volunteer ReserveThe Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve was a naval reserve force of the Royal Canadian Navy, which replaced the Royal Navy Canadian Volunteer Reserve .-Foundation:...
in 1924 and commissioned as Discovery in 1941.
See also
, a WWII armed boarding vessel- Space Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
, primarily named after Capt. Cook's ship of exploration.