HMS Swiftsure

Swiftsure was a brig that had formerly been named Inconstant, which Napoleon used to escape from Elba in.

The Royal Navy has had ships named HMS Swiftsure since 1573, including:

• English ship Swiftsure (1573), a galleon, renamed Speedwell and rebuilt in 1607, and lost in 1624.
• HMS Swiftsure (1621), a 42-gun great ship captured by the Dutch in 1666.
• HMS Swiftsure (1673), a 70-gun ship later renamed Revenge.
• HMS Swiftsure (1750), a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line.
• HMS Swiftsure (1787), a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line captured by the French in 1801. Later recaptured by the Royal Navy in the Battle of Trafalgar and renamed HMS Irresistible.
• HMS Swiftsure (1804), a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1804 which served at the Battle of Trafalgar and was sold in 1845.
• HMS Swiftsure (1870), the lead ship of her class of ironclad battleships.
• HMS Swiftsure (1903), the lead ship of her class of pre-dreadnought battleships. She served in the Mediterranean in World War I and was broken up in 1920.
• HMS Swiftsure (08), a Minotaur-class light cruiser that served in the Far East in World War II.
• HMS Swiftsure (S126), the lead ship of her class of submarines. She was decommissioned in 1992 due to damage suffered to the pressure hull during trials.

Battle honours

(First)

• Armada 1588
• Cadiz 1592

(Second)

• Santa Cruz 1657
• Lowestoft 1665, Four Days Fight 1666

(Third)

• Schooneveldt 1673, Texel 1673
• Barfleur 1692
• Vigo 1702, Gibraltar 1704, Velez Malaga 1704

(Fourth)

• Lagos 1759, Quiberon Bay 1759, Belle Ile 1761

(Fifth)

• Nile 1798, Egypt 1801

(Sixth)

• Trafalgar 1805

(Eighth)

• Suez Canal 1915, Dardanelles 1915-16

(Ninth)

• Okinawa 1945

References

• A.E Weightman, Crests and Badges of H.M. Ships (1957) ISBN (none)