hms lightning

Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Lightning''.

The first Lightning was an 8-gun fire ship launched in 1691 and captured by the French in 1705.
The second Lightning was an 8-gun bomb vessel launched in 1740 and captured off Leghorn during the War of the Austrian Succession in 1746.
The 14-gun sloop Viper, launched in 1746, was converted to a fire ship and renamed Lightning in 1755. She was sold in 1762
The 14-gun sloop Sylph, purchased in 1776, was converted to a fire ship and renamed Lightning in 1779. She was sold in 1783.
The fifth Lightning was a 16-gun fire ship launched in 1806 and sold in 1816.
The sixth Lightning, launched in 1823, was a paddle steamer. She served initially as a packet ship, but was later converted into an oceanographic survey vessel. She was used by Charles Wyville Thomson and William Carpenter to survey the north Atlantic in 1868.
The seventh Lightning was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1829, renamed Larne in 1832 and broken up in 1866.
The eighth Lightning, launched in 1877, was a motor torpedo boat, built by John Thornycroft. She was the first seagoing vessel to be armed with self-propelled torpedoes. She was later known as TB-1.
The ninth Lightning, launched in 1895, was a Janus-class destroyer. She served in World War I and was sunk by a mine in 1915.
The tenth Lightning (G55), launched in 1940, was an L-class destroyer that served in World War II. She was torpedoed and sunk on 12 March 1943 in the Strait of Sicily by the German torpedo boat S-55.

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