List of people with Royal Navy ships named after them

This is an incomplete list of people that have or had ships or ship classes named after them, or the name is associated with the person. The ships are currently or were previously in service with the Royal Navy, the United Kingdom's naval warfare force; or with predecessor fleets formally in the service of the Kingdom of England; or of the English Commonwealth. The list also includes fictional vessels which have prominently featured in literature about the Royal Navy.

Ship classes

Some people have had Royal ship classes named after them, the following are a list of people who had such classes named after them.

Royalty and nobility

Monarchs

Queen Elizabeth I

The following ship class was named after HMS Queen Elizabeth the first aircraft carrier commissioned in the class which was named after the dreadnought battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth in service from 1914 to 1948 which itself was named after the Tudor monarch Queen Elizabeth I.

Class	Preceded by	Type	Planned	Completed	Active	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Displacement	Homeport	Note
Queen Elizabeth class	Invincible class	Aircraft carrier	2	2	2	2017–present	n/a	65,000	Portsmouth	[1][2][3]

Ships

Royalty and nobility

The following are British monarchs who have had Royal navy ships named after them.

Monarchs

Queen Elizabeth II

There are no ships named after Queen Elizabeth II.

King Charles III

The following are ships named after King Charles III the former Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Edinburgh.

Ship	Class	Pennant No.	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Displacement	Type	Homeport	Note
HMS Prince of Wales	Queen Elizabeth class	R09	2019	n/a	65,000 tonnes	Aircraft carrier	Portsmouth	[3]

Dukes

Dukes of Northumberland and the Percy Family

The following are ships named after Dukes of Northumberland as well as the Percy Family, also known of the House of Percy.

Duke of Northumberland

The following are named after the title of Duke of Northumberland rather than any holder of that title.

Ship	Class	Pennant No.	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Displacement	Type	Homeport	Note
HMS Northumberland	Type 23 (Duke class)	F238	1994	n/a	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Devonport	[4]

Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur)

The following are ships named Hotspur the nicknamed for the 14th century noblemen Sir Henry Percy.

Ship	Class	Pennant No.	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Displacement	Type	Homeport	Note
HMS Hotspur	Fifth-rate	n/a	1810	1821	n/a	Frigate	n/a	[5][6][7]
HMS Hotspur	Fifth-rate	n/a	1828	1902	n/a	Frigate	n/a	[8][9]
HMS Hotspur	unknown	n/a	1828	1902	unknown	Ironclad Ram	n/a	[citation needed]

Other Dukes

The following are Dukes with ships named after them.

Named After	Ship	Class	Pennant No.	Commissioned		Homeport	Note
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington	HMS Iron Duke	Type 23 (Duke class)	F234	1993	4,900 tonnes	Portsmouth	[10]
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough	HMS Monmouth	Type 23 (Duke class)	F235	1993	4,900 tonnes	Devonport	[11]
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth		Type 23 (Duke class)	F235	1993	4,900 tonnes	Devonport	[12][13][14]

Dukedom Title

The following are named after various Dukedom titles rather than any holder of those titles.

Named After	Holder at time of Commissionship	Current Holder	Ship	Class	Pennant No.	Commissioned	Displacement	Type	Homeport	Note
Duke of Argyll	Ian Campbell, 12th Duke of Argyll	Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll	HMS Argyll	Type 23 (Duke class)	F231	1991	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Devonport	[15]
Duke of Lancaster	Queen Elizabeth II	King Charles III	HMS Lancaster	Type 23 (Duke class)	F229	1992	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Portsmouth	[16]
Duke of Montrose	James Graham, 8th Duke of Montrose	James Graham, 8th Duke of Montrose	HMS Montrose	Type 23 (Duke class)	F236	1994	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Devonport	[17][N 1]
Duke of Westminster	Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster	Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster	HMS Westminster	Type 23 (Duke class)	F237	1994	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Portsmouth	[18]
Duke of Richmond	Charles Gordon-Lennox, 10th Duke of Richmond	Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond	HMS Richmond	Type 23 (Duke class)	F239	1995	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Devonport	[19]
Duke of Somerset	John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset	John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset	HMS Somerset	Type 23 (Duke class)	F82	1996	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Devonport	[20]
Duke of Sutherland	Francis Egerton, 7th Duke of Sutherland	Francis Egerton, 7th Duke of Sutherland	HMS Sutherland	Type 23 (Duke class)	F81	1997	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Devonport	[21]
Duke of Kent	Prince Edward, Duke of Kent	Prince Edward, Duke of Kent	HMS Kent	Type 23 (Duke class)	F78	2000	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Portsmouth	[22]
Duke of Portland	Victor Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of Portland	Title Extinct (1990)	HMS Portland	Type 23 (Duke class)	F79	2001	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Devonport	[23]
Duke of St Albans	Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans	Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans	HMS St Albans	Type 23 (Duke class)	F83	2002	4,900 tonnes	Guided missile frigate	Devonport	[24]

Military Officials

Named After	Ship	Class	Pennant No.	Commissioned	Displacement	Type	Homeport	Note
Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan	HMS Duncan	Type 45 (Daring class)	D37	2013	8,500 tonnes	Guided missile destroyer	Portsmouth	[25]

Mythological/Semi-Mythological

Named After	Class	Ship	Pennant No.	Commissioned	Displacement	Type	Homeport	Note
Gaius Mucius Scaevola	Type 45 (Daring class)	HMS Daring	D32	2009	8,500 tonnes	Guided missile destroyer	Portsmouth	[26][27]

Explorers

Named After	Class	Ship	Pennant No.	Commissioned	Displacement	Type	Homeport	Note
Robert Falcon Scott	Echo class	HMS Scott	H131	1997	13,500 tonnes	Ocean survey	Devonport	[28]

Fictional RN ship names

Deities

The following fictional ships are named after deities.

Name	Ship	From	Created By	Medium	Published	Type	Note
Pluto	HMS Pluto	A Ship of the Line	C. S. Forester	Novel	1938
Venus	Venus	Good Ship Venus		Song

Other

Name	Ship	From	Created By	Medium	Published	Type	Note
Hotspur	HMS Hotspur	Hornblower and the Hotspur	C. S. Forester	Novel	1962	Sloop	[29]
Caligula	Caligula	A Ship of the Line	C. S. Forester	Novel	1938

Notes

1. HMS Montrose is forward deployed, operating from HMS Jufair in Bahrain.

Citations

1. "Aircraft Carriers - Future Flagships". Royal Navy. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
2. "HMS Queen Elizabeth". Royal Navy. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
3. "Commissioning day for HMS Prince of Wales". Royal Navy. Portsmouth. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
4. "HMS Northumberland". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
5. "No. 16774". The London Gazette. 14 September 1813. p. 1837.
6. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4593. 30 August 1811. hdl:2027/hvd.32044105232920. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
7. Lloyd's List №4672.
8. Warlow, Ben, Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy, Maritime Books, Liskeard, ISBN 0-907771-73-4.
9. "NMM, vessel ID 368732" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol i. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
10. "HMS Iron Duke". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
11. Conway's all the world's fighting ships 1947-1995. London: Conway Maritime. 1995. ISBN 0-85177-605-1. OCLC 34284130.
12. "HMS Monmouth". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
13. "Progress report – extending the life of Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates". Navy Lookout. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
14. Allison, George (22 March 2021). "Two frigates to be scrapped early".
15. "HMS Argyll". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
16. "HMS Lancaster". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
17. "HMS Montrose". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
18. "HMS Westminster". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
19. "HMS Richmond". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
20. "HMS Somerset". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
21. "HMS Sutherland". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
22. "HMS Kent". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
23. "HMS Portland". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
24. "HMS St Albans". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
25. "HMS Duncan". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
26. "HMS Daring". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
27. "A return to the old routine for 14 dock | Royal Navy". www.royalnavy.mod.uk.
28. "HMS Scott". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
29. Marquardt, Karl Heinz (2005). The 44-gun frigate USS Constitution : "Old Ironsides". Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-250-4. OCLC 61727947.