HMS Falcon

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Twenty-two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Falcon. They are named after an exceptionally fast bird of prey.

• HMS Falcon was a "ballinger" (a moderate-size oared vessel) dating from 1334. She was sold in 1352.
• HMS Falcon was a ship in service from 1461 to 1485.
• HMS Falcon was a pinnace in service from 1544 to 1578.
• HMS Falcon was a ship of 180 bm (the number of casks of wine that the ship could carry) in service in 1603.
• HMS Falcon was a 24-gun ship purchased in 1646. She was gone by 1659.
• HMS Falcon was a 6-gun vessel captured from the Royalists in 1646. She was last listed in 1653.
• HMS Falcon was a 10-gun ship captured from the Dutch in 1652. She was used as a fireship in 1653 and sold in 1658. She was also known as the Golden Falcon.
• HMS Falcon was a 36-gun fifth-rate launched in 1666. Upgraded to a 42-gun fourth-rate in 1668, but reverted to 36-gun Fifth Rate in 1691. In 1694 she was captured by the French in the Mediterranean.
• HMS Falcon was a 24-gun sixth-rate launched in 1694. In 1695 she was captured by three French ships off Dodman. She was recaptured in 1703 and broken up.
• HMS Falcon was converted from a merchant ship in 1694 to a 38-gun fifth-rate. She was captured by the French in 1695.
• HMS Falcon was a 32-gun fourth-rate launched in 1704. In 1709 she was captured by the French Le Serieux in the Mediterranean.
• HMS Falcon was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1744. In 1745 she was captured by the French off Saint Malo. She was recaptured in 1746 and renamed Fortune. Sold in 1770.
• HMS Falcon was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1745. She was converted to an 8-gun bombardment ship in 1758. She was wrecked in the West Indies in 1759.
• HMS Falcon was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1771. Sunk in 1778 as a blockship in Narragansett Bay. Salvaged and then floundered 1779.
• HMS Falcon was a 14-gun brig-sloop launched in 1782. She was used as a fireship and expended in 1800 at Dunkirk Roads.
• HMS Falcon was a 14-gun sloop. She was launched as HMS Diadem in 1801 and renamed Falcon in 1802. She was sold in 1816.
• HMS Falcon was a Danish 16-gun sloop which was found abandoned in 1807 near Danzig. She was in service 1808.
• HMS Falcon was a 10-gun Cherokee class brig-sloop launched in 1820. An engine was fitted in 1833 and then removed the following year. She was sold in 1838.
• HMS Falcon was a 17-gun wood screw sloop launched in 1854. She was sold in 1869.
• HMS Falcon was a 14-gun composite screw gunvessel launched in 1877. She was put into harbour service in 1890 and sold in 1920.
• HMS Falcon was a small C class destroyer launched in 1899. In 1918 she was sunk in a collision with the trawler John Fitzgerald in the North Sea.
• HMS Falcon was a river gunboat launched in 1931. She was handed over to the Chinese Navy in 1942, and renamed Lung Huang.
• HMS Falcon was a Royal Navy Air Station at Hal Far, Malta.

[edit] References

• Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. ed., London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.