HMS Arethusa

For French Naval ships of the same name, see French ship Aréthuse.

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Arethusa after the Greek mythological nymph Arethusa who was transformed by Artemis into a fountain.

• HMS Arethusa (1759) was a 32-gun fifth-rate ship captured from the French Navy in 1759 and wrecked in 1779. Its Action of 17 June 1778 is the subject of the ballad: The Saucy Arethusa.
• HMS Arethusa (1781) was a 38-gun fifth-rate launched in 1781 and broken up in 1814.
• HMS Arethusa (1817) was a 46-gun fifth-rate launched in 1817, and renamed HMS Bacchus in 1844 upon her conversion into a hulk; she was broken up in 1883.
• HMS Arethusa (1849) was a 50-gun fourth-rate launched in 1849. She was fitted with screw propulsion in 1861 and became a training ship in 1874. She was broken up in 1934.
• HMS Arethusa (1882) was a Leander-class protected cruiser launched in 1882 and scrapped in 1905.
• HMS Arethusa (1913) was an Arethusa-class light cruiser launched in 1913 and wrecked after being damaged by a naval mine in 1916.
• HMS Arethusa (26) was an Arethusa-class light cruiser launched in 1934 and scrapped in 1950.
• HMS Arethusa (F38) was a Leander-class frigate launched in 1963 and sunk as training target in 1991.

Battle honours

• Ushant 1778 & 1781
• St Lucia 1796
• Curacao 1807
• Black Sea 1854
• China 1900
• Heligoland 1914
• Dogger Bank 1915
• Norway 1940-41
• Malta Convoys 1941-42
• Normandy 1944

See also

• HMS Arethuse