HMS Erebus

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Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Erebus after Erebus, the dark region of Hades in Greek Mythology.

• The first Erebus was a rocket vessel built in 1807, converted to an 18-gun sloop in 1808, to a fire ship in 1809, and to a 24-gun sixth-rate in 1810. She was sold in 1819.
• The second Erebus was a 14-gun bomb vessel launched at Pembroke in 1826. She and her sister ship Terror took part in James Clark Ross's expedition to Antarctica from 1839 to 1843. The two ships were converted to screw propulsion in 1844, and took part in John Franklin's expedition to the Arctic in 1845, where they became trapped in ice near King William Island and were abandoned in 1848.
• The third Erebus was an iron screw floating battery of 16 guns, launched in 1856 and sold in 1884.
• The fourth Erebus was originally the iron screw ship Invincible, renamed in 1904 and sold in 1906.
• The fifth Erebus (I02), launched in 1916, was the first monitor of the Erebus class. The ship participated in both World War I and World War II.

[edit] References

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