HMS Dragon explained

Several ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Dragon.

• , a ship of 100 tons built in 1512 under Sir William Sidney in the war with France. Last mentioned 1514.^[1]
• , a 140-ton three-masted ship depicted in the Anthony Roll of 1546. Built 1542 or 1544 and rebuilt 1551. Last mentioned 1553 ^[2]
• (or Red Dragon),^[3] a galleon built in 1593 and last mentioned 1613.
• , a fourth-rate frigate launched in 1647, rebuilt in 1690 and 1707 and wrecked in 1711.
• , a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line launched in 1711, renamed HMS Dragon in 1715, and broken up in 1733.
• , a 60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line launched in 1736, and scuttled as a breakwater in 1757.
• , a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line built in 1760 and sold in 1784.
• , a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line built in 1798 at Rotherhithe. Refitted in 1814, she served until 1815. She was broken up in 1850.
• , a 6-gun wooden paddle second-rate frigate built in 1845 and sold 1865, designed by Sir William Symonds, which served in the Baltic during the Crimean War.^[4]
• , a 6-gun screw sloop launched in 1878 and sold in 1892.
• , a twin-screw torpedo boat destroyer launched in 1894 and sold in 1912.
• , a light cruiser launched in 1917 and scuttled off Normandy in 1944 while serving in the Polish navy as .
• was a stone frigate of the Royal Naval Reserve in Swansea and acted as a Communications Training Centre.^[5] She was decommissioned in 1994.^[6]
• , is a Type 45 destroyer launched in November 2008

Battle honours

Ships named Dragon have earned the following battle honours:

• Kentish Knock, 1652
• Portland, 1653
• Gabbard, 1653
• Scheveningen, 1653
• Lowestoft, 1665
• Four Days' Battle, 1666
• Orfordness, 1666
• Bugia, 1671
• Barfleur, 1692
• Belle Isle, 1761
• Martinique, 1762
• Havana, 1762
• Egypt, 1801
• Baltic, 1854–55
• Arctic, 1944

Notes and References

1. NMM Warship Histories; Rodger Safeguard of the Sea pp. 476, 484
2. NMM Warship Histories. Rodger Safeguard of the Sea p. 477
3. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_i.pdf National Maritime Museum Warship Histories
4. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_i.pdf National Maritime Museum Warship Histories
5. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-06-22/Writtens-9.html House of Commons Debates for 22 June 1989
6. Web site: History of Naval Reservists in Swansea at the Royal Navy website. 2008-11-19.