Nine 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 Warspite:
was a 29-gun galleon

Galleon

A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...

, sometimes known as Warspight. She was launched in 1596 and sold in 1649. was a 70-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 1666. She was renamed in 1721, rebuilt three times and broken up in 1771. 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 launched in 1758. She was on harbour service from 1778, was renamed in 1800 and was broken up in 1801. was a 76-gun third rate launched in 1807 and burnt by accident in 1876. was a 120-gun first rate launched in 1833 as . She was renamed Warspite in 1876 after being transferred as a training ship to The Marine Society

The Marine Society

The Marine Society was the world's first seafarers’ charity. In 1756, at the beginning of the Seven Years' War against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Saxony Britain urgently needed to recruit men for the navy...

, and was burnt in 1918. was an Imperieuse-class

Imperieuse class cruiser

The Imperieuse class cruiser was a class of two armoured cruisers launched between 1883 and 1884 for the Royal Navy.-History:In an 1886 magazine article, Sir Edward Reed complained that these ships did not deserve to be called "armoured", as they were not armoured at bow or stern, only along the...

 first-class armoured cruiser launched in 1884 and scrapped in 1905. was an Astrea-class

Astraea class cruiser

The Astraea class was an eight ship class of protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s. The ships served on a number of foreign stations during their careers, particularly in the waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and around the Cape of Good Hope...

 protected cruiser launched in 1893 as . She was sold in 1921, and again in 1922 to The Marine Society and was renamed Warspite. She was sold for scrapping in 1940. was a Queen Elizabeth-class

Queen Elizabeth class battleship

The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a class of five super-dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy. The lead ship was named after Elizabeth I of England...

 battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 launched in 1913. She served in the First World War and in numerous operations in the Second World War, earning the most battle honours of any Royal Navy ship. She ran aground on her way to be broken up in 1947 and was scrapped in 1950. was a Valiant-class

Valiant class submarine

The Valiant class were a class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy from the mid 1960s until 1994. They were the first fully British nuclear fleet submarine; the earlier used an American nuclear reactor...

 nuclear-powered submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 launched in 1965 and decommissioned in 1991. She is currently awaiting disposal.

Battle honours

Warspite carries the most battle honours of any ship in the Royal Navy, and the eighth ship carries the most for any individual ship.

(First)

• Cadiz 1596

(Second)

• Orfordness 1666
  St. James's Day Battle
  The naval St James' Day Battle , the Battle of the North Foreland and the Battle of Orfordness) took place on 25 July 1666 — St James' day in the Julian calendar then in use in England , during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and was fought between fleets of England, commanded jointly by...
  
  
• Sole Bay 1672
  Battle of Solebay
  The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.-The battle:...
  
  
• Schooneveld 1673
  Battle of Schooneveld
  The Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 between an allied Anglo-French fleet commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and the fleet of the United Provinces, commanded by Michiel de Ruyter.The...
  
  
• Texel 1673
  Battle of Texel
  The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place on 21 August 1673 between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets and was the last major battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, which was itself part of the Franco-Dutch War , during which Louis XIV of France invaded the...
  
  
• Barfleur 1692
• Velez Malaga 1705
• Marbella 1705
  Battle of Cabrita point
  The Battle of Cabrita Point, usually referred to as the Battle of Marbella, was a naval battle that took place while a combined Spanish-French force besieged Gibraltar on 10 March 1705 during the War of Spanish Succession.The battle was an allied victory which effectively ended the Franco-Spanish...
  
  

(Third)

• Lagos 1759
  Battle of Lagos
  The naval Battle of Lagos between Britain and France took place on August 19, 1759 during the Seven Years' War off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and is named after Lagos, Portugal. For the British, it was part of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759.-Origins:...
  
  
• Quiberon 1759
  Battle of Quiberon Bay
  The naval Battle of Quiberon Bay took place on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire...
  
  

(Eighth)

• Jutland 1916
  Battle of Jutland
  The 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...
  
  
• Atlantic 1939
• Narvik 1940
  Battles of Narvik
  The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April-8 June 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian city of Narvik as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War....
  
  
• Norway 1940
  Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
  The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
  
  
• Calabria 1940
  Battle of Calabria
  The Battle of Calabria, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in World War II. It was fought between the Italian Royal Navy and the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The battle occurred 30 miles to the east of Punta Stilo, the "toe" of Italy , on 9 July 1940...
  
  
• Mediterranean 1940-41-43
  Mediterranean Theatre of World War II
  The African, Mediterranean and Middle East theatres encompassed the naval, land, and air campaigns fought between the Allied and Axis forces in the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and Africa...
  
  
• Malta Convoys 1941
  Malta Convoys
  The Malta Convoys were a series of Allied supply convoys that sustained the besieged island of Malta during the Mediterranean Theatre of the Second World War...
  
  
• Matapan 1941
  Battle of Cape Matapan
  The Battle of Cape Matapan was a Second World War naval battle fought from 27–29 March 1941. The cape is on the southwest coast of Greece's Peloponnesian peninsula...
  
  
• Crete 1941
  Battle of Crete
  The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...
  
  
• Sicily 1943
  Allied invasion of Sicily
  The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
  
  
• Salerno 1943
  Allied invasion of Italy
  The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...
  
  
• English Channel 1944
• Normandy 1944
• Walcheren 1944
  Battle of Walcheren Causeway
  The Battle of Walcheren Causeway was an engagement of the Battle of the Scheldt between the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade, elements of the British 52nd Infantry Division, notably the Glasgow Highlanders, and troops of the German 15th Army in 1944...
  
  
• Biscay 1944