HMS Indefatigable
Encyclopedia
Seven ships of the Royal Navy
have been named HMS Indefatigable:
was a 64-gun third-rate
ship of the line
launched in 1784, razee
d to a 38-gun frigate
in 1795 and broken up in 1816. This was the ship popularised by C. S. Forester
in the early volumes of his Hornblower
series of novels.
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 Indefatigable:
was a 64-gun 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...
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 1784, razee
Razee
A razee or razée is a sailing ship that has been cut down to reduce the number of decks. The word is derived from the French vaisseau rasé, meaning a razed ship.-Sixteenth century:...
d to a 38-gun frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
in 1795 and broken up in 1816. This was the ship popularised by C. S. Forester
C. S. Forester
Cecil Scott "C.S." Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith , an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of naval warfare. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen...
in the early volumes of his Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and television programs.The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy...
series of novels.
- HMS Indefatigable was to have been a 50-gun fourth rate. She was ordered in 1832 but cancelled in 1834. was a 50-gun fourth rate launched in 1848, loaned as a training ship after 1865, and sold in 1914. was an Apollo-classApollo class cruiserThe Apollo class were a class of second-class protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the late 19th century that served during the Boer War and World War I....
second class cruiserCruiserA 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 1891, renamed HMS MelpomeneHMS MelpomeneSeven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Melpomene after the Muse of Tragedy in ancient Greek mythology.* HMS Melpomene was a 38-gun fifth rate frigate captured in 1794 and sold in 1815 after service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.* HMS Melpomone was a 38-gun fifth rate...
in 1910, and sold in 1913. was an Indefatigable-classIndefatigable class battlecruiserThe Indefatigable class were the second class built of British battlecruisersThe Indefatigable-class ships were formally known as armoured cruisers until 1911 when they were redesignated as battlecruisers by an Admiralty order of 24 November 1911. Unofficially a number of designations were used...
battlecruiserBattlecruiserBattlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
launched in 1909 and sunk at the Battle of JutlandBattle of JutlandThe Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
in 1916. - HMS IndefatigableHMS Phaeton (1883)HMS Phaeton was a second class cruiser of the Leander class which served with the Royal Navy.-Construction:She was built by Napier in Glasgow, being laid down in 1880, launched in 1883 and completed in 1886.-Acceptance Trials:...
was a despatch vessel launched in 1883 as . She was sold as a training ship named Indefatigable in 1913, was repurchased in 1941 and renamed HMS Carrick II before being scrapped in 1947. was an Implacable-classImplacable class aircraft carrierThe Implacable class was a class of aircraft carrier employed by the Royal Navy in the second half of Second World War. The class design was derived from the .- Design :...
aircraft carrierAircraft carrierAn 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...
launched in 1942 and scrapped in 1956.
Other vessels
- "His Majesty's armed defence ship Indefatigable", under the command of George Andrews, recaptured the Melcombe on 21 June 1804. This Indefatigable appears to have been an hired armed shipHired armed vesselsright|thumb|250px|Armed cutter, etching in the [[National Maritime Museum]], [[Greenwich]]During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Royal Navy made use of a considerable number of hired armed vessels...
that served between 1804 and 1805, though one source has her having been purchased in 1804 and sold in 1805. A later source does not list her at all, neither as a purchase nor as a hired vessel. - In fiction: The Indefatigable (aka "The Indie") was one of the key ships in the Horatio HornblowerHoratio HornblowerHoratio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and television programs.The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy...
series of novels by C. S. ForesterC. S. ForesterCecil Scott "C.S." Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith , an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of naval warfare. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen...
.