Ten 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 been named HMS Hermes, after Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

, the messenger god of 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...

, while another was planned:
was a 12-gun brig-sloop, originally the Dutch Mercurius, captured in 1796 by HMS Sylph. She foundered in 1797. was a 22-gun ship purchased in 1798 and sold in 1802. was a 16-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...

, originally the civilian Majestic. She was purchased in 1803 and sold in 1810. was a 20-gun sixth-rate

Sixth-rate

Sixth rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:...

 launched in 1811 and burned in 1814 during a highly unsuccessful attack on Fort Bowyer

Fort Bowyer

Fort Bowyer was a short-lived earthen and stockade fortification erected by the United States Army on Mobile Point, near the mouth of Mobile Bay in Baldwin County, Alabama. Built during the War of 1812, the fort was the site of two attacks by the British. The first, unsuccessful, attack led to the...

 at Mobile Point

Mobile Point

Mobile Point is a peninsula in Baldwin County, Alabama that partially encloses Mobile Bay. At its western tip is Fort Morgan, which faces Fort Gaines sitting across the inlet to the Mobile Bay, on Dauphin Island. Along the point is the unincorporated community of Fort Morgan, Alabama....

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

.

• HMS Hermes was a wooden paddle packet
  Packet ship
  A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post office mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. In sea transport, a packet service is a regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers...
  
  , originally in civilian service as George IV. She was purchased in 1830 as , renamed HMS Hermes in 1832, became a coal hulk and was renamed HMS Charger in 1835, and was broken up in 1854. was a wooden paddle sloop launched in 1835, rebuilt in 1842 and broken up in 1864.
• HMS Hermes was a 74-gun
  Seventy-four (ship)
  The "seventy-four" was a type of two-decked sailing ship of the line nominally carrying 74 guns. Originally developed by the French Navy in the mid-18th century, the design proved to be a good balance between firepower and sailing qualities, and was adopted by the British Royal Navy , as well as...
  
   third-rate
  Third-rate
  In the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
  
   launched in 1816 as , renamed HMS Hermes in 1866, and broken up in 1869. was a Highflyer-class
  Highflyer class cruiser
  The Highflyer class cruisers were a three-ship class of second-class protected cruisers of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1897 and completed at an average cost of £300,000....
  
   cruiser
  Cruiser
  A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
  
   launched in 1898, converted into an experimental seaplane tender
  Seaplane tender
  A seaplane tender is a ship that provides facilities for operating seaplanes. These ships were the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War.-History:...
  
   in 1913 and sunk by a German U-boat
  U-boat
  U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
  
   in 1914. was the first purpose built fleet aircraft carrier
  Aircraft carrier
  An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
  
   in the world to be launched, in 1919. She was sunk in a Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  ese air attack in 1942.
• HMS Hermes was to have been a Centaur-class
  Centaur class aircraft carrier
  The Centaur class of aircraft carriers of the British Royal Navy was the last of the light fleet carrier designs started during the closing years of World War II.-Ships In Class:HMS Centaur...
  
   aircraft carrier, but was cancelled in 1945. was a Centaur-class aircraft carrier, originally planned as HMS Elephant, but renamed in 1945. She was launched in 1953 and served in the Falklands War
  Falklands War
  The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
  
  . She was sold to the Indian Navy
  Indian Navy
  The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
  
   in 1986, who recommissioned her as INS Viraat
  INS Viraat
  INS Viraat is a Centaur class aircraft carrier currently in service with the Indian Navy. INS Viraat is the flagship of the Indian Navy, the oldest carrier in service and one of two aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean Region.The Viraat was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy's...
  
  .