HMS Bee
Three vessels and two shore establishments of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Bee, after the insect, the bee. A third ship was ordered but never completed:
Ships
- HM Schooner Bee was a 79-foot wooden supply schooner of 301⁄2 tonnes displacement, stationed at the Penetanguishene Naval Establishment from 1817 to 1831. A replica of this ship was built and now resides at Discovery Harbour along with HMS Tecumseth in Penetanguishene, Ontario.
- HMS Bee was a paddle vessel, built of wood and launched in 1842 as a tender to the Royal Academy, Portsmouth. She had additional screw propulsion fitted in 1844, making her the first screw vessel in the Royal Navy. She was broken up in 1874.
- HMS Bee was an Insect-class gunboat launched in 1915 and sold in 1939.
- HMS Bee was to have been a Dragonfly-class river gunboat. She was ordered in 1939, but cancelled in 1940.
Shore establishments
- HMS Bee was a Coastal Forces motor launch work up base at Weymouth in commission between 1942 and 1943.
- HMS Bee was a Coastal Forces motor launch work up base at Holyhead, taking over from the previous base in 1943 and being paid off in 1945.
See also
- HMS Beecroft, a naval base in Nigeria between 1960 and 1978.
- HMS Beehive, a Coastal Forces base at Felixstowe between 1940 and 1945.
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.