HMS Lightning explained

Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Lightning.

• The first was an 8-gun fire ship launched in 1691 and captured by the French in 1705.
• The second was an 8-gun bomb vessel launched in 1740 and captured off Livorno during the War of the Austrian Succession in 1746.
• The 14-gun sloop, launched in 1746, was converted to a fire ship and renamed Lightning in 1755. She was sold in 1762
• The 14-gun sloop, purchased in 1776, was converted to a fire ship and renamed Lightning in 1779. She was sold in 1783.
• The fifth was a launched in 1806, converted to a sloop in 1808, and sold in 1816.
• The sixth, launched in 1823, was a paddle steamer, one of the first steam-powered ships on the Navy List. She served initially as a packet ship, but was later converted into an oceanographic survey vessel.
• The seventh was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1829, renamed Larne in 1832, and broken up in 1866.
• The eighth, was a torpedo boat, built by John Thornycroft. She was the first seagoing vessel to be armed with self-propelled torpedoes. She was later known as TB-1.
• The ninth, launched in 1895, was a . She served in World War I until she struck a mine in 1915 that sank her.
• The tenth, launched in 1940, was an L-class destroyer that served in World War II. The German motor torpedo boat S-55 torpedoed and sank her on 12 March 1943 in the Strait of Sicily.

References

• • Book: A. L. . Rice . 1986 . British Oceanographic Vessels, 1800-1950 . Ray Society. . 978-0-903874-19-9.