HMS Warspite

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named Warspite. The origins of the name are unclear, although it is likely a pun on the word 'spite', in part embodying contempt for the Navy's enemies, but also the common name for the green woodpecker, suggesting the 'Warspite' would poke holes in enemy ship's (wooden) hulls. Until 1919 a woodpecker was used as the ships's crest; the official badge was a cannon, although the woodpecker continued to be used on the ship's tompions.


 * ENGLISH SHIP Warspite was a 29-gun galleon, sometimes known as Warspight. She was launched in 1596 and sold in 1649.
 * HMS Warspite (1666) was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1666. She was renamed HMS Edinburgh (1721) in 1721, rebuilt three times and broken up in 1771.
 * HMS Warspite (1758) was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1758. She was on harbour service from 1778, was renamed HMS Arundel in 1800 and was broken up in 1801.
 * HMS Warspite (1807) was a 76-gun third rate launched in 1807 and burnt by accident in 1876.
 * HMS Warspite (1833) was a 120-gun first rate launched in 1833 as HMS Waterloo (1833). She was renamed Warspite in 1876 after being transferred as a training ship to The Marine Society, and was burnt in 1918.
 * HMS Warspite (1884) was an first-class armoured cruiser launched in 1884 and scrapped in 1905.
 * HMS Warspite (03) was a launched in 1913. She served in the First World War and in numerous operations in the Second World War, earning the most battle honours of any Royal Navy ship. She ran aground on her way to be broken up in 1947 and was scrapped in 1950.
 * HMS Warspite (S103) was a nuclear-powered submarine launched in 1965 and decommissioned in 1991.  She is currently awaiting disposal.

Battle honours
Warspite carries the most battle honours of any ship in the Royal Navy, and the seventh ship carries the most for any individual ship.

(First)
 * Cadiz 1596

(Second)
 * Orfordness 1666
 * Sole Bay 1672
 * Schooneveld 1673
 * Texel 1673
 * Barfleur 1692
 * Velez Malaga 1705
 * Marbella 1705

(Third)
 * Lagos 1759
 * Quiberon 1759

(Seventh)
 * Jutland 1916
 * Atlantic 1939
 * Narvik 1940
 * Norway 1940
 * Calabria 1940
 * Mediterranean 1940-41-43
 * Malta Convoys 1941
 * Matapan 1941
 * Crete 1941
 * Sicily 1943
 * Salerno 1943
 * English Channel 1944
 * Normandy 1944
 * Biscay 1944
 * Walcheren 1944