Two 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 been named HMS Ganges after the river Ganges in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

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was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 launched in 1782 and broken up in 1816. was an 84-gun second rate launched in 1821 and finally broken up in 1930. She is notable for being the last sailing ship of the Navy to serve as a flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

. was a training establishment, originally aboard the second HMS Ganges. She was in service between 1865 and 1976. During this period a number of other ships were renamed HMS Ganges whilst serving as the establishment:

• • HMS Minotaur
    HMS Minotaur (1863)
    HMS Minotaur was the lead ship of the armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s. They were the longest single-screw warships ever built. Minotaur took nearly four years between her launching and commissioning because she was used for evaluations of her armament and different...
    
     was Ganges between 1906 and 1908, and again between 1913 and 1919. She was also Ganges II between 1908 and 1912, and again between 1920 and 1922.
  • HMS Caroline was Ganges between 1908 and 1913.
  • HMS Agincourt
    HMS Agincourt (1865)
    HMS Agincourt was one of three Minotaur class ironclads, the sistership of HMS Minotaur and a near sister to HMS Northumberland...
    
     was Ganges II between 1906 and 1908.
  • RNTE Shotley
    RNTE Shotley
    RNTE Shotley, known in the Royal Navy as HMS Ganges, was a naval training establishment at Shotley, near Ipswich in Suffolk. Starting in 1905, it trained boys for naval service until it closed in 1976, following the raising of the school leaving age from 15 to 16...
    
    , a shore based training establishment set up in 1905 was Ganges II from 1913 to 1919, and Ganges from 1927 to 1976.