This is an alphabetical list of the names of all ships that have been in service with the Royal Navy, or with predecessor fleets formally in the service of the Kingdom of England or the Commonwealth of England. The list also includes fictional vessels which have prominently featured in literature about the Royal Navy. Names are traditionally re-used over the years, and have been carried by more than one ship.
Altogether over 13,000 ships have been in service with the Royal Navy.
Unlike many other naval services, the Royal Navy designates certain types of shore establishment (e.g. barracks, naval air stations and training establishments) as "ships" and names them accordingly. These establishments are often referred to in service slang as stone frigates.
Lists of ship names
Due to the large number of names the list has been split into smaller lists:
Alphabetical
List of ship names of the Royal Navy (A) List of ship names of the Royal Navy (B) List of ship names of the Royal Navy (C) List of ship names of the Royal Navy (D–F) List of ship names of the Royal Navy (G–H) List of ship names of the Royal Navy (I–L) List of ship names of the Royal Navy (M–N) List of ship names of the Royal Navy (O–Q) List of ship names of the Royal Navy (R–T) List of ship names of the Royal Navy (U–Z)
By type of ship
List of aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy
List of amphibious warfare ships of the Royal Navy
List of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy
List of dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy
List of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy
List of bomb vessels of the Royal Navy
List of cruiser classes of the Royal Navy
List of destroyers of the Royal Navy
List of fast patrol boats of the Royal Navy
List of frigates of the Royal Navy
List of corvettes and sloops of the Royal Navy
List of gunboats and gunvessels of the Royal Navy
List of gun-brigs of the Royal Navy
List of ironclads of the Royal Navy
List of monitors of the Royal Navy
List of mine countermeasure vessels of the Royal Navy (includes minesweepers and mine hunters) List of Royal Prison ship names List of Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship names List of ships of the line of the Royal Navy List of submarines of the Royal Navy List of survey vessels of the Royal Navy List of Royal Navy shore establishments
By namesake
List of people with Royal Navy ships named after them
Fictional RN ship names
Many novels and films about the Royal Navy feature fictional ships, but most use real names. This is a list of fictional names of note. Where real ship names are used fictionally, there is a link to the actual ships using that name.
Fictional wooden RN ships
In novels
Argonaute (from Colours Aloft by Alexander Kent) Atropos (from Hornblower and the Atropos by C. S. Forester) Bellipotent (from Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville) Caligula (from A Ship of the Line by C. S. Forester) Clam (from Hornblower in the West Indies by C. S. Forester) Clorinda (from Hornblower in the West Indies by C. S. Forester) Crab (from Hornblower in the West Indies by C. S. Forester) Harvey and Moth (bomb ketches) (from The Commodore by C. S. Forester) Flame (from Lord Hornblower by C. S. Forester) (from a 1970s urban myth) (from Mr Midshipman Easy by Captain Frederick Marryat) (from Hornblower and the Hotspur by C. S. Forester) Justinian (from Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forester) (from The Commodore by C. S. Forester) Lydia (from The Happy Return by C. S. Forester) (from Hornblower and the Atropos by C. S. Forester) (from The Commodore by C. S. Forester) (from Hornblower in the West Indies by C. S. Forester) Pinafore (from the operetta H.M.S. Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan) Polychrest (from Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian) Porta Coeli (from Lord Hornblower by C. S. Forester) Pucelle (from Sharpe's Trafalgar by Bernard Cornwell) (from A Ship of the Line by C. S. Forester) (from Lieutenant Hornblower by C. S. Forester) (from Hornblower in the West Indies by C. S. Forester) (from Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian; based on the actual ) (from HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian; based on the actual frigate ) (from A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours by C. S. Forester) Themis (from Under Enemy Colors by S. Thomas Russell) (from the scatalogical drinking song "Good Ship Venus"; although this usage is apocryphal, the ship name has been used five times by the RN between 1758 and 1972) Witch of Endor (from Flying Colours by C. S. Forester)