HMS Gloucester

Eleven vessels, and one planned, of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Gloucester, after Gloucester, the city in England.

• The first Gloucester was a 54-gun ship launched in 1654 and wrecked in 1682.
• The second Gloucester was a 60-gun fourth-rate launched in 1695, on harbour service after 1706, and broken up in 1731.
• The third Gloucester was a 60-gun fourth-rate launched in July 1709 and captured by the French in October of the same year.
• The fourth Gloucester was a 50-gun fourth-rate in service from 1711 to 1724.
• The fifth Gloucester was a 50-gun fourth-rate launched in 1737 and burned in 1742 to forestall capture.
• The sixth Gloucester 50-gun fourth-rate in service from 1745 to 1764.
• The seventh Gloucester alias Duke of Gloucester was a 10-gun brig launched on Lake Erie in 1807, captured by the Americans in April 1813 and destroyed by the British a few weeks later.
• The eighth Gloucester was a 74-gun third-rate launched in 1812 and sold 1884.
• The ninth Gloucester was a Town-class light cruiser in service from 1909 to 1921.
• The tenth Gloucester was a Town-class cruiser launched in 1937 and sunk off Crete in 1941. The wreck site is a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act.
• A 2,170 ton frigate to be named Gloucester was ordered from Portsmouth Dockyard in 1956 but later cancelled.
• The eleventh Gloucester was a Type 42 destroyer launched in 1982, commissioned in September 1985, and retired from service on the 30 June 2011.