Twelve 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 Vesuvius or HMS Vesuve, after the volcano

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

 Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...

. Another was planned but never completed, while doubt exists over the existence of another:
was an 8-gun fireship launched in 1691 and expended in 1693. was an 8-gun fireship launched in 1693. She was stranded in 1695 but was refloated that year. She was condemned in 1705. was a 16-gun fireship, previously the civilian Worcester. She was purchased in 1739 and broken up in 1742. was an 8-gun fireship, previously the civilian King of Portugal. She was purchased in 1756, converted to a 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...

 that year, and was sold in 1763. was an 8-gun fireship launched in 1771. She was converted to a sloop and renamed HMS Raven later that year and was sold in 1780. was an 8-gun bomb vessel

Bomb vessel

A 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...

 launched in 1776 and sold in 1812. was a 3-gun gunvessel captured from the French in 1795 and sold in 1802.

• HMS Vesuvius may have been an 8-gun bomb vessel purchased in 1797 and sold in 1813, though this may refer to the Vesuvius launched in 1776. was an 8-gun bomb vessel launched in 1813 and sold in 1819.
• HMS Vesuvius was to have been an 8-gun bomb vessel. She was ordered in 1823, cancelled in 1828, reordered in 1830 and cancelled in 1831. was a wooden paddle sloop launched in 1839 and sold for scrapping in 1865. was an iron screw torpedo boat
  Torpedo boat
  A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
  
   launched in 1874. She was sold in 1923 and foundered under tow to the breakers. was a torpedo-discharge 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...
  
   purchased in 1933 and renamed TL1 in 1940.
• HMS Vesuvius was a minelaying tender launched in 1932 as . She was renamed HMS Vernon in 1938 and HMS Vesuvius in 1941. She was sold in 1957.