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 Sphinx or HMS Sphynx, after the mythical creature, the Sphinx

Sphinx

A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...

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was a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1748 and sold in 1770. was a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1775 and broken up in 1811. was a 10-gun Cherokee-class

Cherokee class brig-sloop

The Cherokee class was a 10-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops are sloops-of-war with two masts rather than the three masts of ship-sloops...

 brig-sloop launched in 1815 and sold in 1835. was a wooden paddle sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 launched in 1846 and broken up in 1881. was a composite paddle vessel launched in 1882 and sold in 1919. was an Halcyon-class

Halcyon class minesweeper

The Halcyon class was a class of 21 oil-fired minesweepers built for the British Royal Navy between 1933 and 1939...

 minesweeper

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

launched in 1939, and foundered in 1940 after an air attack.