HMS Medea
Encyclopedia
Seven ships of the Royal Navy
have borne the name HMS Medea, or HMS Medee, after the Medea
of Greek mythology
, whilst another was planned:
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 Medea, or HMS Medee, after the Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
of Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, whilst another was planned:
- HMS Medea was a 26-gun sixth-rateSixth-rateSixth rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:...
, originally the French Medee. She was captured by HMS DreadnaughtHMS Dreadnought (1691)HMS Dreadnought was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Blackwall Yard in 1691. She was reduced to a fourth rate in 1697....
in 1744 and was sold in 1745. She subsequently operated as the 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...
Boscawen. - HMS MedeaHMS Medea (1778)HMS Medea was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Medea was first commissioned in May 1778 under the command of Captain William Cornwallis.- References :...
was a 28-gun sixth-rateSixth-rateSixth rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:...
launched in 1778 and sold in 1795. - HMS Medee was a 36-gun fifth rate captured from the French in 1800. She was used as a prison shipPrison shipA prison ship, historically sometimes called a prison hulk, is a vessel used as a prison, often to hold convicts awaiting transportation to penal colonies. This practice was popular with the British government in the 18th and 19th centuries....
from 1802 and was sold in 1805. - HMS Medea was to have been a 32-gun fifth-rate of 658 tons. She was ordered from Woolwich DockyardWoolwich DockyardWoolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship Henri Grâce à Dieu , the largest ship of its day....
in 1800 but was later cancelled. - HMS Medea was a paddle sloopSloop-of-warIn 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 1833 and sold in 1867. - HMS Medea was a Marathon-classMarathon class cruiserThe Marathon class cruiser was a class of second class cruiser of the Royal Navy ordered under the naval programme of 1887. It was a smaller version of the Mersey class ....
second class cruiser launched in 1888 and sold in 1914. - HMS Medea was a Medea-classMedea class destroyerThe Medea class were a class of destroyers that were being built for the Greek Navy at the outbreak of World War I and that were taken over and completed for the Royal Navy for wartime service. All were named after characters from Greek mythology as result of their Greek heritage.The Medeas were a...
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...
, originally to be the Greek Kriti. She was purchased on the ways in 1914, launched in 1915, and sold for breaking up in 1921. - HMS MedeaHMS M22HMS M22 was a First World War Royal Navy M15-class monitor. Later converted to a minelayer and renamed HMS Medea , she was wrecked whilst being towed for breaking up on 2 January 1939.-Design:...
was an M15-classM15 class monitorThe M15-class comprised fourteen monitors of the Royal Navy, all built and launched during 1915.- Design :The ships of this class were ordered in March, 1915, as part of the Emergency War Programme of ship construction...
monitor, launched in 1915 as HMS M22HMS M22HMS M22 was a First World War Royal Navy M15-class monitor. Later converted to a minelayer and renamed HMS Medea , she was wrecked whilst being towed for breaking up on 2 January 1939.-Design:...
. She was renamed HMS Medea in 1925 and was sold in 1930.