Seven ships of the Royal Navy

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 Termagant, after Termagant

Termagant

In Medieval Europe, Termagant was the name given to a god that the Europeans believed Muslims worshipped.-Origin of the concept:European literature from the Middle Ages often referred to Muslims as pagans, with sobriquets such as the paynim foe...

, a god that Medieval Europeans believed Muslims worshipped, and that later came to be popularised by Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 to mean a bullying person:
was a 26-gun sixth rate launched in 1780, reduced to an 18-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...

 in 1782, and sold in 1795. was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1796 and sold in 1819. was a 28-gun sixth rate launched in 1822. She was renamed HMS Herald

HMS Herald (1822)

HMS Herald was an Atholl-class 28-gun sixth-rate corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1821 as HMS Termagant, commissioned in 1824 as Herald and converted to a survey ship in 1845...

 in 1824. when she became a survey ship. She was sold in 1862. was a 3-gun brigantine

Brigantine

In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...

, previously built as a Cherokee-class brig-sloop

Cherokee class brig-sloop

The 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...

. She was launched in 1838, and sold in 1845. was a wooden screw frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

, launched in 1847 and sold in 1867. was a Talisman-class

Talisman class destroyer

The Talisman class were a class of destroyers that were being built for the Turkish Navy at the outbreak of World War I but were taken over in November 1914 and completed for the Royal Navy for wartime service...

 destroyer

Destroyer

In 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 built for the Turkish Navy

Turkish Navy

The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...

 but taken over as HMS Narborough, later renamed HMS Termagant and launched in 1915. She was sold in 1921 and broken up in 1923. was a T-class destroyer launched in 1943. She was converted to a Type 16

Type 16 frigate

The Type 16 frigates were a class of British anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers that had been rendered obsolete by rapid advances in technology...

frigate between 1952 and 1953, and was broken up in 1965.