Sixteen ships of the
Royal Navy have been named HMS Pelican, after the
bird, while another was planned:
Pelican was an 18-gun
privateer. She was part of
Sir Francis Drake's global circumnavigation expedition in 1577 and was renamed Golden Hind in 1578. It is unlikely that she was ever commissioned in the Royal Navy.
HMS Pelican (1757) was a 16-gun
sloop, previously in civilian service as St George. She was purchased in 1757 and sold in 1763.
HMS Pelican (1775) was a 10-gun
schooner, originally a French privateer. She was captured in 1775 and assigned to harbour duties in 1776. She was renamed Earl of Denbigh in 1777 and sank in 1787.
HMS Pelican was the American Bermuda-built sloop Adriana of 150 tons (bm), that the British captured in 1777 and took into service to replace her predecessor.
HMS Pelican (1795) was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1795 and sold in 1806.
HMS Pelican (1806) was a 16-gun brig-sloop, previously the French navy brig Voltigeur. She was captured in 1806 by
HMS Pique and was sold in 1812.
HMS Pelican (1812) was an 18-gun
Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1812. She was reassigned as a customs watchvessel in 1847 and was renamed WV 29 in 1863, finally being sold in 1865.
HMS Pelican (1860) was a wooden
Camelion-classscrew sloop launched in 1860 and sold into civilian service in 1867 and renamed Hawk. She was resold to the Portuguese Navy and renamed Infanta Dom Henrique.
HMS Pelican (1906) was tender, previously the
War Department vessel Sir J. Jones. She was transferred to the Royal Navy in 1906. She was renamed HMS Petulant in 1916 and was sold in 1927.
Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA).
ISBN2-906381-23-3
List of ships with the same or similar names
This article includes a
list of ships with the same or similar names. If an
internal link for a specific ship led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended ship article, if one exists.