HMS Sappho explained

Five ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sappho, after the Ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho. Two more were planned but one was cancelled and one received a different name before launching:

• was an 18-gun launched in 1806 and broken up in 1830.
• was a 16-gun brig-sloop launched in 1837 that foundered in 1858.
• HMS Sappho was to have been a wood screw sloop. She was laid down in 1861 but was cancelled in 1863.
• HMS Sappho was to have been a wood screw sloop, but she was renamed in 1867 before being launched.
• was a composite screw sloop launched in 1873 and sold in 1887.
• was an second class cruiser launched in 1891 and sold in 1921.
• was built in 1935 and destroyed by a German torpedo on 29 September, 1940.