HMS Lion
Encyclopedia
Eighteen ships of the Royal Navy
have been named HMS Lion, after the lion
, an animal traditionally associated with courage
, and also used in several heraldric motifs
representing England
, Scotland
and the British Monarchy
. Another ship was planned but never completed:
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 Lion, after the lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, an animal traditionally associated with courage
Courage
Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation...
, and also used in several heraldric motifs
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
representing England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the British Monarchy
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
. Another ship was planned but never completed:
- Lion was a 36-gun ship of the Royal Scottish Navy captured in 1511 and sold in 1513.
- Lion was a 50-gun ship built in 1536 and on the navy list until 1559.
- Lion was a Scottish ship captured in 1547 and later lost off HarwichHarwichHarwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
. - Lion was a 40-gun ship, also known as Golden Lion. She was rebuilt four times, in 1582, 1609, 1640 and 1658. After her 1609 rebuild she was renamed Red Lion, but this was reverted to Lion after the 1640 rebuild. She was sold in 1698.
- HMS Lion was a 6-gun ketchKetchA ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...
, also known as Young Lion. She was captured from the DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 1665, sold in 1667, repurchased in 1668 and sunk as a foundation at SheernessSheernessSheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
in 1673. - HMS Lion was a fifth rate captured from the AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
ns in 1683 and sold the same year. - HMS Lion was a 4-gun hoyHoy (boat)A hoy was a small sloop-rigged coasting ship or a heavy barge used for freight, usually displacing about 60 tons. The word derives from the Middle Dutch hoey. In 1495, one of the Paston Letters included the phrase, An hoye of Dorderycht , in such a way as to indicate that such contact was then...
purchased in 1702. She was captured by the French in 1707, but was recaptured in 1709 and rebuilt that year. She is listed in the records until 1737. - HMS LionHMS Lion (1709)HMS Lion was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the 1706 Establishment and launched on 20 January 1709....
was a 60-gun third-rateThird-rateIn 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...
launched in 1709, rebuilt in 1738 and sold in 1765. - HMS Lion was a transport launched in 1753, hulked in 1775, and sold in 1786.
- HMS Lion was a cutter purchased in 1763 and sold in 1771.
- HMS Lion was a discovery vessel in service from 1774 to 1785.
- HMS LionHMS Lion (1777)HMS Lion was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, of the Worcester class, launched on 3 September 1777 at Portsmouth Dockyard....
was a 64-gun third-rateThird-rateIn 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...
launched in 1777. She was used as a sheer hulk from 1816 and was sold for breaking up in 1837. - HMS Lion was a schoonerSchoonerA schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
purchased around 1781 and sold in 1785. - HMS Lion was a 4-gun gunvesselGunboatA 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:...
, originally a Dutch hoy. She was purchased in 1794 and sold in 1795. - HMS Lion was a schooner in service from 1823 and sold in 1826.
- HMS LionHMS Lion (1847)HMS Lion was a two-deck 80-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 29 July 1847 at Pembroke Dockyard.She was fitted with screw propulsion in 1859, and was sold out of the navy in 1905....
was an 80-gun second-rateSecond-rateIn the British Royal Navy, a second rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th century second rates had fewer guns and were originally two-deckers or had only partially armed third gun decks. The term in no way implied...
launched in 1847. She was converted to screw propulsion in 1859 and became a training ship after 1871. She was sold for breaking up in 1905. - HMS LionHMS Lion (1910)HMS Lion was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class, which were nicknamed the "Splendid Cats". They were significant improvements over their predecessors of the in terms of speed, armament and armour...
was a Lion classLion class battlecruiserThe Lion class were a class of battlecruisers built by the British Royal Navy before World War I. Nicknamed the "Splendid Cats", the ships were a significant improvement over their predecessors of the in terms of speed, armament and armour...
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 1910 and sold in 1924. - HMS Lion was to have been a Lion classLion class battleshipThe Lion class battleships were a class of six fast battleships designed for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s. They were a larger, improved version of the King George V class with guns. Only two ships were laid down before World War II began in September 1939 and a third was ordered during the...
battleshipBattleshipA 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...
. She was laid down in 1939, but work was suspended later that year, and again in 1942. The order was finally cancelled in 1945 and she was broken up on the slipway. - HMS LionHMS Lion (C34)HMS Lion was a light cruiser of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1942 as one of the Minotaur class and laid down that same year as Defence by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Greenock on 6 June 1942....
was a Tiger-classTiger class cruiserThe Tiger-class helicopter cruisers were the first of such a type in the Royal Navy, and the last cruisers built for the Royal Navy. They were originally designed to be Minotaur-class light cruisers...
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 1944 as the Minotaur classMinotaur class cruiser (1943)The Minotaur class of light cruisers of the Royal Navy, also known as the Swiftsure class, was designed as a modified version of the Crown Colony class incorporating war modifications and authorised in 1941, but, in spite of the heavy toll of cruisers in that year and the following one, the...
HMS Defence. She was finally completed to a revised design in 1960. She was placed in reserve in 1964 and was scrapped in 1975.
See also
- HMS Lioness
- HMS Lion's Whelp
- HMS Two Lions