HMS Medusa

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Ten ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Medusa, after the ancient Greek mythological figure Medusa:

• {{HMS|Medusa|1785}} was a 50-gun fourth rate launched in 1785 and wrecked in 1798.
• {{HMS|Medusa|1801|6}} was a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate launched in 1801. She was Nelson's flagship on his return to England at Harwich on 9 August, was present at the action of 5 October 1804 and was broken up in 1816.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.realessex.co.uk/content/download/63/276/file/REview+Issue2.pdf |title=The Medusa Connection – Tales from Harwich |date=August 2005 |magazine=REview |issue=2 |location=Chelmsford |publisher=RealEssex |access-date=2 November 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509051922/http://www.realessex.co.uk/content/download/63/276/file/REview+Issue2.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2006 }}
• HMS Medusa was to have been a 46-gun fifth rate. She was ordered in 1816, reordered in 1830 and cancelled in 1831.
• {{HMS|Medusa|1838}} was a wooden paddle packet launched in 1838 and sold in 1872.
• {{HMS|Medusa|1839}} was an iron paddle gunboat launched in 1839 and wrecked in 1853.
• {{HMS|Medusa|1888}} was a {{sclass|Marathon|cruiser}} launched in 1888, on harbour service from 1910, sold in 1920 and resold in 1921.
• {{HMS|Medusa|1915}} was a {{sclass|Medea|destroyer}}, previously the Greek Lesvos. She was purchased in 1914, before being launched in 1915. She was abandoned after a collision with {{HMS|Laverock|1913|6}} and subsequently ran aground and was wrecked in 1916.
• HMS Medusa was an {{sclass|M29|monitor|0}} monitor, previously named {{HMS|M29}}. She was renamed HMS Medusa in 1925, converted to a depot ship and renamed HMS Talbot in 1941, HMS Medway II in 1943 and back to HMS Medusa in 1944. She was sold in 1946 and broken up in 1947.
• {{HMS|Medusa|1939}} was an auxiliary minesweeper requisitioned in 1939 and transferred to the Royal Australian Navy as {{HMAS|Mercedes}} in 1942.
• {{HMS|Medusa|A353}} was a harbour defence motor launch, launched in 1943 as ML 1387. She served in D-Day, was renamed BDB 76 in 1946, SDML 3516 in 1949 and Medusa in 1961. She was paid off in 1963, and is now a museum ship.{{cite web |url=http://www.hmsmedusa.org.uk/ |title=The Medusa Trust |website=hmsmedusa.org.uk |year=2015 |accessdate=7 February 2015}}{{cite web |url= http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/522/hms-medusa |title=HMS Medusa |website=National Historic Ships |year=2015 |accessdate=7 February 2015}}