HMS Goldfinch explained

Four ships of the Royal Navy and one shore establishment have borne the name HMS Goldfinch, probably after the bird the European goldfinch.

Ships

• was a 6-gun brig launched in 1808 that became a Post Office Packet Service packet, sailing out of Falmouth, Cornwall. She was sold in 1838.
• was an wooden screw gunboat launched on 2 February 1856 and broken up 1869.
• was a composite gunboat launched in 1889 and sold in 1907.
• was an launched in 1910. She was wrecked on Start Point, Sanday Island, Orkney on 18 February 1915, and subsequently broken for scrap in April 1919.

Shore establishment

• HMS Goldfinch was the name given to Ta' Qali airfield in Malta when it was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm on 1 April 1945 for use as a Fleet Requirements Unit.