HMS ROYAL OAK

Eight (or eleven, depending on how one counts) vessels of the British Royal Navy have been named 'HMS ''Royal Oak'''. The name refers to the Royal Oak in which Charles II of England hid himself during his flight from the country in the British Civil War.

★ The first ''Royal Oak'' was a 76-gun second-rate launched in 1664 and burnt by the Dutch in 1667 in the Raid on the Medway.

★ The second ''Royal Oak'' was a 70-gun third-rate launched in 1674, rebuilt in 1690, 1713, and 1741 (each of which may be considered a different ship). After being built or rebuilt in Plymouth in 1741 she was defined as a 64-gun fourth-rate, serving as a prison ship off Plymouth between 1756 and 1763, and broken up in 1764 after and broken up 1764.

★ The third ''Royal Oak'' was a 74-gun third-rate launched in 1769, a prison ship from 1796, renamed ''Assistance'' in 1805, and broken up 1815.

★ ''Renown'' of 1798 was later renamed ''Royal Oak''.

★ The fifth ''Royal Oak'' was a 74-gun third-rate launched in 1809, on harbour service from 1825, and broken up 1850.

★ The sixth ''Royal Oak'' was an ironclad frigate in service from 1862 to 1885.

★ The seventh ''Royal Oak'' was a ''Royal Sovereign''-class battleship launched in 1892 and scrapped in 1914.

★ The eighth ''Royal Oak'' was a ''Revenge''-class battleship launched in 1914 and sunk at anchor on October 14, 1939, in Scapa Flow. She fought at the Battle of Jutland.