HMS Invincible

Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS "Invincible".

* HMS "Invincible" was originally the French 74-gun ship of the line "L'Invincible", captured off Cape Finisterre in 1747. She was the first purpose-built 74-gun ship of the line to serve in the Royal Navy.
* HMS "Invincible" was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1765 at Deptford and commissioned at Portsmouth in 1776. Her career saw her involvement in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) (against the Spanish fleet) and the Battle of St. Kitts and the Glorious First of June (both against the French fleet). She was also involved in the capture of St. Lucia, Trinidad and Surinam. She was wrecked off the Norfolk coast in 1801, with the loss of 400 lives.
* HMS "Invincible" was a 74-gun ship, launched at Woolwich in 1808. She saw action in the Peninsular War, supporting the British forces. She was paid off in 1814, and broken up in 1861, in Plymouth.
* HMS "Invincible" was to have been the world's second ocean-going iron-hulled armoured frigate, and sister to HMS "Warrior", but she was renamed HMS "Black Prince" before her launch.
* HMS "Invincible" was an armoured "broadside battleship" built in 1869. She was renamed "Erebus" in 1904 and "Fisgard II" in 1906, before foundering in a storm in 1914.
* HMS "Invincible" was a battlecruiser of the First World War attached to the 1st Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet at the end of 1908. She saw action at Battle of Heligoland Bight, the Battle of the Falkland Islands, and the Battle of Jutland, where she blew up and sank after taking a hit from SMS "Lützow", with the loss of 1,026 crew. Only six crew members survived.
* HMS "Invincible" is a light aircraft carrier, the first of three in the "Invincible" class. She served from 1980 to 2005, including service in the Falkland War. She is currently in reserve, on 18-month reactivation notice. [ [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.1278 About Sixth HMS Invincible] - Royal Navy website]

Battle Honours

1. St Vincent, 1780 (2nd)
2. St Kitts, 1782 (2nd)
3. Glorious First of June, 1794 (2nd)
4. Alexandria, 1882 (4th)
5. Heligoland, 1914 (5th)
6. Falkland Islands, 1914 (5th)
7. Jutland, 1916 (5th)
8. Falkland Islands, 1982 (6th)

References