HMS Hydra

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Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Hydra after the hydra of Greek mythology. The ship's badge is a representation of the hydra, albeit with seven heads rather than the generally accepted nine heads.

• HMS Hydra (1778) - a Sixth-rate ship launched on 8 August 1778 at Deptford. 454 tons (builder's measurement), she carried 24 guns with a complement of 160 men. Sold on 1 May 1783.

• HMS Hydra (1797) - Fifth-rate ship launched on 30 May 1797, at Mr Cleverly's yard in Gravesend. 1,024 tons (builder's measurement), she carried 38 guns and 8-32 pounder carronades with a complement of 284 men. She had an active career in the Napoleonic Wars, including the Blockade of Cadiz 1805-1806, and the Peninsular War in 1807, including the bombardment of the defences of the Catalan port of Bagur (Begu). From 1812-1818 she was employed as a troopship and she was sold in 1820.

• HMS Hydra (1838) - a wooden steam paddle sloop launched in July 1838 at Chatham Dockyard. 818 tons (builder's measurement), with 220 horsepower, she carried 6 guns. She was involved in the bombardment of Beirut and the capture of St Jean d'Acre in September 1840. In 1849 she was involved on anti-slavery operations. From 1864-1868 she was employed as a surveying ship. Her most notable task was a deep-sea cruise in 1867-1868 in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic Ocean, and a sounding from Aden to Bombay. The ship's blacksmith received an award for the invention of the "Hydra Rod". She paid off in 1868 and was sold in 1870.

• HMS Hydra (1871) - a Cyclops class turret ship launched on 28 December 1871 at the Elder yard in Govan. 3,480 tons displacement, she was heavily armoured and carried four 10-inch 18-ton guns and a complement of 190 men. Sold on 7 July 1903 and broken up in Genoa.

• HMS Hydra (1912) an Acheron or "I" class destroyer launched on 19 February 1912, at John Brown, Clydebank. 770 tons, she carried two 4-inch guns and two 21-inch torpedo tubes with a complement of 72 men. She was with the First Destroyer Flotilla at the Battle of Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915 and at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. Sold on 9 May 1921 to Ward of Portishead for scrap.

• HMS Hydra (1941) a Landing Ship Infantry ("LSI(L)") - taken up from trade on 23 July 1941 and renamed HMS Hydra. Launched on 27 August 1930, at the yard of Alexander Stephen in Govan, she was the 9,890 tons (gross displacement) passenger-cargo liner SS Kenya, designed for the British India Steam Navigation Company's India and East Africa service. In October 1941, she was renamed HMS Keren in order to release the name for a new minesweeper. In 1942, she was converted to carry 1500 troops and 24 landing craft, and saw service in the Mediterranean and North African campaigns. She was purchased by the Ministry of War Transport in 1946 but sold two years later for service with the Italian Alva Steamship Company (renamed Fairstone). She was transferred to the associate Sitmar Line and re-entered service in 1952 as the Castel Felice, serving various routes from Italy before, in 1954, working the North Atlantic service and mostly the UK-Australia run. She was sold for scrap in Formosa in 1970.

• HMS Hydra (J275)- an Algerine class minesweeper. She was mined in the approaches to Ostend on 10 November 1944 but not repaired, sold for scrap but not broken up until 1947.

• HMS Hydra (A144) - oceanographic survey vessel launched in 1966 and sold to Indonesia in 1986.

The name has been awarded seven Battle Honours:

• Syria 1840
• Dogger Bank 1915
• Jutland 1916
• North Sea 1943
• Arctic 1943-44
• Normandy 1944
• South Atlantic 1982