HMS Warspite

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Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named Warspite. The origins of the name are unclear, although it is probably from the word spight – an Elizabethan-era spelling variation of both spite and speight – in part embodying contempt for the Navy's enemies, but which was also the common name for the green woodpecker, suggesting the 'Warspight' would poke holes in enemy ships' (wooden) hulls.{{cite book|last=Ballantyne|first=Iain|title=Warspite: From Jutland Hero to Cold War Warrior|publisher=pen & Sword Maritime|location=Barnsley, UK|year=2013|isbn=978-1-84884-350-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5dNX612zp1gC |ref=Ballantyne2013}}{{Rp|page=10}} Until 1919 a woodpecker was used as the ships' crest; the official badge was a cannon, although the woodpecker continued to be used on the ships' tompions or gun muzzle plugs. Warspite carries the most battle honours of any ship in the Royal Navy, with the sixth Warspite being awarded fifteen of them.{{Rp|page=6}}

  • {{ship|English ship|Warspite|1596}} was a 29-gun galleon, originally known as Warspight. She was launched in 1596 and sold in 1649.
  • {{HMS|Warspite|1666}} was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1666. She was renamed {{HMS|Edinburgh|1721|6}} in 1721, rebuilt three times and broken up in 1771.
  • {{HMS|Warspite|1758}} was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1758. She was on harbour service from 1778, was renamed {{HMS|Arundel}} in 1800 and was broken up in 1801.
  • {{HMS|Warspite|1807}} was a 76-gun third rate launched in 1807, razeed in 1840 and paid off in 1846. Lent to The Marine Society in 1862, she became a training ship until destroyed by fire in 1876.
  • {{HMS|Warspite|1884}} was an {{sclass|Imperieuse|cruiser|0}} first-class armoured cruiser launched in 1884 and scrapped in 1905.
  • {{HMS|Warspite|03}} was a {{sclass|Queen Elizabeth|battleship}} launched in 1913. She served in the First World War and in numerous operations in the Second World War, earning the most battle honours of any Royal Navy ship. She ran aground on her way to be broken up in 1947 and was scrapped in 1950.
  • {{HMS|Warspite|S103}} was a {{sclass|Valiant|submarine|0}} nuclear-powered submarine launched in 1965 and decommissioned in 1991. She is currently awaiting disposal.
  • HMS Warspite is the third planned {{sclass|Dreadnought|submarine|0}} ballistic missile submarine.

Battle honours

See also

Citations

{{reflist}}

General and cited references

  • {{Cite Colledge2006}}
  • {{Cite book |editor-last=Gardiner |editor-first=Robert |year=1979 |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905 |url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2 |url-access=registration |location=Greenwich, UK |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |isbn=0-8317-0302-4 }}
  • {{Cite book |last=Weightman |first=A. E. |year=1957 |title=Heraldry in the Royal Navy: Crests and Badges of H.M. Ships |location=Aldershot, UK |publisher=Gale & Polden |oclc=776637247}}

{{Ship index}}

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Category:Royal Navy ship names