HMS Acheron
Seven warships of the British Royal Navy were named HMS Acheron , named after the Acheron , one of the five rivers of the underworld in Greek mythology :
- The first Acheron was a gunboat ("bomb vessel") with eight 24-pounder carronades. She was bought for the Royal Navy in 1803 and was lost in 1805 when she escorted a convoy in the Mediterranean . Together with the other escort ship HMS Arrow , she had to drop the flag in front of the French frigates Hortense and Incorruptible . Because the ship was too badly damaged to be brought into port, it was sunk by the French.
- The second Acheron was a paddle wheel drive sloop , 1,006 tonne displacement, launched in 1838, stationed primarily in New Zealand and Australia , and sold in 1855.
- The third Acheron was to be a propeller-driven sloop, construction of which began in 1861 but was stopped before completion.
- The fourth Acheron was a Warrior- class armored frigate . Launched as HMS Northumberland in 1866 , renamed in 1898, used as a depot ship and sold in 1927.
- The fifth Acheron was a torpedo boat launched in 1879 and sold in 1902.
- The sixth Acheron was a destroyer and the namesake for the Acheron- class . It was launched in 1911, took part in the First World War and was sold in 1921. In 1915 she was involved in the sinking of the German submarine U 12 .
- The seventh Acheron (H45) was an A-class destroyer . It was launched in 1930 and sank in 1940 after a mine hit on the Isle of Wight , killing 196 crew members and shipyard workers.
- The eighth Acheron (P411) was a submarine of Amphion class , which in 1947 was launched and scrapped 1972.
literature
- JJ Colledge, Ben Warlow: Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present . Chatham Publishing, London 2006, ISBN 1-86176-281-X , pp. 2 .