HMS Hecla
Encyclopedia
Seven ships of the Royal Navy
have been named HMS Hecla, after the volcano Hekla
in Iceland
.
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 Hecla, after the volcano Hekla
Hekla
Hekla is a stratovolcano located in the south of Iceland with a height of . Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes; over 20 eruptions have occurred in and around the volcano since 874. During the Middle Ages, Icelanders called the volcano the "Gateway to Hell."Hekla is part of a volcanic...
in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
.
- The first Hecla was a 10-gun bomb vesselBomb vesselA 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...
purchased in 1797. She participated in the Battle of Copenhagen (1801)Battle of Copenhagen (1801)The Battle of Copenhagen was an engagement which saw a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker fight and strategically defeat a Danish-Norwegian fleet anchored just off Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson led the main attack. He famously disobeyed Parker's...
and was broken up in 1813. - The second HeclaHMS Hecla (1815)HMS Hecla was a Royal Navy Hecla-class bomb vessel of 372 tons. Launched on 15 July 1815, she saw wartime service in an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August, 1816...
, launched in 1815, was a Hecla-classHecla class bomb vesselThe Hecla class was a class of bomb vessels of the Royal Navy of the early 19th century. They were designed for use as bomb or mortar ships and were very heavily built. Eight ships were launched; all were converted for use as exploration or survey ships...
bomb vessel; she was later converted to an exploration ship and was commanded by William Edward ParryWilliam Edward ParrySir William Edward Parry was an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer, who in 1827 attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole...
during his exploration of the Arctic. - The third Hecla was a wooden paddle sloopSloop-of-warIn 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 1839 and sold in 1863. - The fourth Hecla was a torpedo boat carrier/depot ship purchased in 1878 modernised in 1912 and sold in 1926.
- The fifth Hecla was a Destroyer Depot Ship launched in March 1940 and sunk off Casablanca on 12 November 1942 by U-515Unterseeboot 515German submarine U-515 was a Type IXC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II.She was commissioned in 1942 and sunk in 1944...
- The sixth Hecla was a repair shipAuxiliary shipAn auxiliary ship is a naval ship which is designed to operate in any number of roles supporting combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliaries are not primary combatants, although they may have some limited combat capacity, usually of a self defensive nature.Auxiliaries are extremely...
launched in 1944 and transferred to the United States NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
as USS Xanthus (AR-19)USS Xanthus (AR-19)USS Xanthus was a Xanthus-class repair ship acquired by the United States Navy for the task of providing repairs to the fleet. She was named after Xanthus, a mythical beast of Greek legend....
. - The seventh Hecla (A133)HMS Hecla (A133)HMS Hecla was the lead ship of the Hecla class, an oceangoing survey ship type in the Royal Navy. She was ordered in the mid 1960s, along with her sisters ships and . A fourth ship, , was completed in the early 1970s. The ship served for thirty years in this role, and various others, before...
, launched in 1964, was a Hecla-classHecla class survey vesselThe 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 vesselSurvey vesselA 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...
sold in 1997.