HMS Achilles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Achilles, after the Greek hero Achilles. Four others, mostly prizes, have had the French spelling of the name, Achille.

• The first HMS Achilles was an 8-gun schooner purchased in 1747. She served in the War of the Austrian Succession and was captured in 1748 by the Spanish.
• The second HMS Achilles was a 60-gun fourth-rate launched in 1757 and sold in 1784.
• The third HMS Achilles, launched in 1863, was a broadside ironclad frigate. She had a displacement 9,820 tons and an armament of 20 guns.
• The fourth HMS Achilles was a Warrior class armoured cruiser launched in 1905. She served in World War I and was sold in 1921.
• The fifth and famous HMS/HMNZS Achilles, launched in 1932, was a Leander class light cruiser. She became famous for taking part in the Battle of the River Plate in 1939 with a New Zealand crew. Later, she was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy. She was returned at the end of World War II and recommissioned as HMS Delhi before being was sold in 1948 to India and commissioned as INS Delhi. She was scrapped in 1978.
• The sixth HMS Achilles, launched in 1968, was a Leander class frigate. She was sold to Chile in 1990 and renamed Ministro Zenteno.

[edit] References

• J. J. Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, Greenhill Books, 1987.