Six 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 Janus, after Janus

Janus (mythology)

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions, thence also of gates, doors, doorways, endings and time. He is usually a two-faced god since he looks to the future and the past...

, the two-faced God of Roman mythology

Roman mythology

Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...

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was a 44-gun fifth rate launched in 1778. She was renamed HMS Dromedary later that year, and was wrecked in 1800 on the Parasol Rocks in Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

. was a 32-gun fifth rate, previously the Dutch Argo. She was captured by HMS Phoenix

HMS Phoenix (1783)

HMS Phoenix was a 36-gun Perseverance-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The shipbuilder George Parsons built her at Bursledon and launched her on 15 July 1783. She served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was instrumental in the events leading up to the battle of Trafalgar...

 in 1796, placed on harbour service from 1798 and was sold in 1811. was a wood paddle sloop launched in 1844 and sold in 1856. was a Clown class wood screw gunboat

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 1856. She was used as a coal lighter

Lighter (barge)

A lighter is a type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods and passengers to and from moored ships. Lighters were traditionally unpowered and were moved and steered using long oars called "sweeps," with their motive power provided by water currents...

 from 1869 and was renamed YC 6. She was sold in 1917. was a Janus class

Janus class destroyer

Three Janus class destroyers served with the Royal Navy. , and were launched by Palmer's shipyard. They displaced 275 tons, were 200 feet long and produced 3,900 hp from their Reed boilers which gave them a top speed of 27 knots....

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 launched in 1895 and reclassified as an A class

A class destroyer (1913)

The A class as designated in 1913 was a heterogeneous group of torpedo boat destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s. Some 42 vessels were constructed to the individual designs of their builders to meet Admiralty specifications, the only uniting feature being a specified top speed of...

 destroyer in 1913. She was sold in 1914. was a J class

J, K and N class destroyer

The J, K and N class was a class of 24 destroyers of the Royal Navy launched in 1938. They were a return to a smaller vessel, with a heavier torpedo armament, after the Tribal class that emphasised guns over torpedoes. The ships were built in three flotillas or groups, eight each of ships with...

destroyer launched in 1938 and sunk in 1944.