Twelve ships and two
shore establishments of the
Royal Navy have been named HMS Defiance. Others have borne the name whilst serving as depot ships and tenders to the establishments:
HMS Defiance (1675) was a 64-gun third rate launched in 1675. She was rebuilt in 1695, reduced to a
fourth rate in 1716, hulked in 1743 and broken up in 1749.
HMS Defiance (1744) was a 69-gun fourth rate launched in 1744 and sold in 1766.
HMS Defiance was the original school ship from 1884 until 1931.
HMS Perseus was HMS Defiance II from 1904 until 1931.
HMS Spartan was HMS Defiance II from 1921 until 1931.
HMS Cleopatra was HMS Defiance III from 1922 until 1931.
HMS Inconstant was HMS Defiance IV from 1922 until 1930 and HMS Defiance II from 1930 until 1956.
HMS Andromeda was HMS Defiance from 1931 until 1956.
HMS Vulcan was HMS Defiance III from 1931 until 1955.
The school moved ashore at
Portsmouth in 1955, becoming a
stone frigate. It was paid off in 1959.
HMS Defiance (shore establishment 1970) was the Fleet Maintenance Base at
HMNB Devonport between 1972 and 1979, and again between 1981 and 1994 when it was absorbed into the main base. One ship was renamed HMS Defiance whilst serving as the establishment's depot ship.
Defiance was a gunboat that the garrison at Gibraltar launched in June 1782 during the
Great Siege of Gibraltar. She was one of 12. Each was armed with an 18-pounder gun, and received a crew of 21 men drawn from Royal Navy vessels stationed at Gibraltar.
Brilliant provided Defiance's crew.[1]
Drinkwater, John (1905) A History of the Siege of Gibraltar, 1779-1783: With a Description and Account of that Garrison from the Earliest Times. (J. Murray).
List of ships with the same or similar names
This article includes a
list of ships with the same or similar names. If an
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