Five 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 Hecate, after Hecate

Hecate

Hecate or Hekate is a chthonic Greco-Roman goddess associated with magic, witchcraft, necromancy, and crossroads.She is attested in poetry as early as Hesiod's Theogony...

, a goddess in early Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

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was a 12-gun gunvessel

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 1797 and sunk as a breakwater

Breakwater (structure)

Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...

 in 1809. was an 18-gun Cruizer-class

Cruizer class brig-sloop

The Cruizer class was an 18-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops were the same as ship-sloops except for their rigging...

 brig-sloop launched in 1809 and sold in 1817. was a wooden paddle sloop launched in 1839 and sold in 1865. was an iron screw turret ship

Turret ship

Turret ships were a 19th century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement....

 launched in 1871 and sold in 1903. was a Hecla-class

Hecla class survey vessel

The Hecla class formed the backbone of the Royal Navy's ocean survey fleet from the mid-1960s. Three ships, , and , were ordered in the early 1960s to replace the aging survey ships and ....

 survey 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...

launched in 1965. She was put up for disposal in 1991, and sailed to India to be broken up in 1994.