HMS Ferret
Encyclopedia
Fifteen ships and two shore establishments of the Royal Navy
have borne the name HMS Ferret, after the domestic mammal, the Ferret
:
was a 10-gun sloop
launched in 1704 and captured by the French in 1706. was a 10-gun sloop launched in 1711 and captured by the Spanish in 1718. was a 6-gun sloop launched in 1721 and sold in 1731. was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1743. She foundered in a hurricane in 1757. was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1760. She foundered in a hurricane in 1776. was a 6-gun cutter launched in 1763 and sold in 1781. was a 12-gun brig-sloop launched in 1784 and sold in 1801. was a 4-gun gunboat
. She was an ex-hoy
purchased in 1794 and sold in 1802. was a 6-gun schooner
purchased in 1799 and captured that year by the Spanish. was an 18-gun Cruizer-class
brig-sloop launched in 1806 and wrecked in 1813.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
have borne the name HMS Ferret, after the domestic mammal, the Ferret
Ferret
The ferret is a domesticated mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur...
:
was a 10-gun sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
launched in 1704 and captured by the French in 1706. was a 10-gun sloop launched in 1711 and captured by the Spanish in 1718. was a 6-gun sloop launched in 1721 and sold in 1731. was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1743. She foundered in a hurricane in 1757. was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1760. She foundered in a hurricane in 1776. was a 6-gun cutter launched in 1763 and sold in 1781. was a 12-gun brig-sloop launched in 1784 and sold in 1801. was a 4-gun gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
. She was an ex-hoy
Hoy (boat)
A hoy was a small sloop-rigged coasting ship or a heavy barge used for freight, usually displacing about 60 tons. The word derives from the Middle Dutch hoey. In 1495, one of the Paston Letters included the phrase, An hoye of Dorderycht , in such a way as to indicate that such contact was then...
purchased in 1794 and sold in 1802. was a 6-gun schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
purchased in 1799 and captured that year by the Spanish. was an 18-gun Cruizer-class
Cruizer class brig-sloop
The Cruizer class was an 18-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops were the same as ship-sloops except for their rigging...
brig-sloop launched in 1806 and wrecked in 1813.
- HMS FerretHMS Nova Scotia (1812)The American privateer Rapid was captured by and in 1812 and taken into service as the 14-gun gun-brig HMS Nova Scotia. She was renamed HMS Ferret in 1813 and sold in 1820.-Privateer Rapid:...
was a 14-gun gun-brig, previously the American privateerPrivateerA privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
Rapid. She was captured in 1812 by HMS Maidstone and became HMS Nova Scotia. She was renamed HMS Ferret in 1813 and was sold in 1820. was a 10-gun Cherokee-classCherokee class brig-sloopThe Cherokee class was a 10-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops are sloops-of-war with two masts rather than the three masts of ship-sloops...
brig-sloop launched in 1821 and sold in 1837. was an 8-gun brigBrigA brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
launched in 1840 and wrecked in 1869. was a Ferret-classFerret class destroyer-See also:* List of destroyer classes of the Royal Navy...
destroyerDestroyerIn naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
, later merged into the A classA class destroyer (1913)The A class as designated in 1913 was a heterogeneous group of torpedo boat destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s. Some 42 vessels were constructed to the individual designs of their builders to meet Admiralty specifications, the only uniting feature being a specified top speed of...
. She was launched in 1893, was dismantled in 1910 and sunk as a target in 1911. was an Acheron-classAcheron class destroyerThe Acheron class was a class of twenty-three destroyers of the British Royal Navy, all built under the 1910-11 Programme and completed between 1911 and 1912, which served during World War I. A further six ships were built to the same design for the Royal Australian Navy as River-class destroyers...
destroyer launched in 1911 and sold in 1921. was the Royal Navy's shore base and at Londonderry between 1940 and 1947. is a Royal Naval ReserveRoyal Naval ReserveThe Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
training centre formed in 1989 at the Intelligence Corps centre in AshfordAshford, KentAshford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
, KentKentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. The unit transferred with the Corps and the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre to ChicksandsRAF ChicksandsRAF Chicksands was a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, which closed in 1997 when responsibility for the camp was taken over by the British Army Intelligence Corps...
in 1997.
See also
- There was also a Ferret that served as a tender to on the Jamaica station in the late 1790s.