HMS Bulwark

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Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Bulwark.

• Construction of the first Bulwark began in 1780, but the keel was never laid down, and the order was subsequently cancelled.
• The second Bulwark was a 74-gun frigate that took part in the blockade of Rochefort in 1813 and fought in the War of 1812. She was broken up in 1826.
• The third Bulwark was intended to be a screwship. Bulwark was laid down at Chatham on 8 March 1859, but construction was suspended in the same month. She was finally broken up in 1872.
• The fourth Bulwark was a wooden 121-gun first-rate ship of the line launched on 7 March 1860 at Pembroke. She was soon made obsolete by the launching of the iron-hulled battleship HMS Warrior. After initial sea trials lasting into 1861, she was never completed for full active duty. She became part of a training establishment for boys, finally being paid off in 1919.
• The fifth Bulwark, launched in 1899, was a Formidable-class battleship. She was destroyed in a magazine explosion at Sheerness in 1914.
• The sixth Bulwark (R08), launched in 1948, was a 22,000 tonne Centaur-class light fleet carrier.
• The most recent ship to bear the name, Bulwark (L15), launched in 2001, is an amphibious assault ship commissioned into service in December 2004.

The motto of HMS Bulwark is "Under Thy Wings I Will Trust".