Editing HMS Spitfire

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{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
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Ten ships of the [[Royal Navy]] have carried the name '''HMS ''Spitfire''''', while an eleventh was planned but renamed before entering service.  All are named after the [[euphemism|euphemistic]] [[translation]] of ''[[Spanish ship Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (1570)|Cacafuego]]'', a Spanish treasure [[galleon]] captured by Sir [[Francis Drake]].
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1776}} was an 8-gun [[galley]] purchased in 1776 in North America for Mouatt's squadron at [[Falmouth, Massachusetts]]. When Admiral [[Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing|d'Estaing's]] squadron arrived in [[Narragansett Bay]] on 29 July 1778, she, {{ship|HMS |Kingfisher|1770|6}}, and {{ship|HM galley|Alarm|1777|6}} were all burnt the next day to prevent the French from capturing them. ''Spitfire'' was run ashore on North Sandy Point and then burnt.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=52}}
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1778}} was an 8-gun [[galley]] purchased and commissioned in 1778. The {{ship|French frigate|Surveillante|1804|2|up=yes}} captured her on 19 April 1779,{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=55}} near the Azores. The French took her to Lorient where as ''Crachefeu'' she was sold that same month for [[Livre tournois|£t]]16,147.{{sfnp|Demerliac|1996|p=142|loc=#1143}}
* [[HMS Speedwell (1752)|HMS ''Spitfire'']] was an 8-gun [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] launched in 1752 as {{HMS|Speedwell|1752}}. She was converted to a [[fireship]] and renamed HMS ''Spitfire'' in 1779 and was sold in 1780.
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1780}} was a 14-gun fireship purchased in 1780. Her fate is unknown.
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1782}} was a 16-gun fireship launched in 1782 and sold in 1825.
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1793}} was the French privateer [[schooner]] ''Poulette'' captured and purchased in 1793. She capsized in 1794.
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1798}} was a schooner of 64 tons burthen captured from the French in 1798. She was wrecked off the [[Amirante Islands]] in August 1801.{{sfnp|Hepper|1994|p=100}}
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1834}} was a wooden paddle vessel launched in 1834 and wrecked in 1842.
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1845}} was a wooden paddle [[gunboat|gunvessel]] launched in 1845 by [[Oliver William Lang|Oliver Lang]]. She became a [[survey ship|survey vessel]] in 1851, a [[tugboat|tug]] in 1862 and was broken up in 1888.
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1895}} was a {{sclass|Swordfish|destroyer}} launched in 1895 and sold in 1912.
* {{HMS|Spitfire|1912}} was an {{sclass|Acasta|destroyer|2}} launched in 1912 and sold for breaking up in 1921.
* HMS ''Spitfire'' was to have been a [[C-class destroyer (1943)|C-class destroyer]]. She was renamed {{HMS|Cambrian|R85}} in 1942 and launched in 1943.

==Other British military vessels named ''Spitfire''==
*''Spitfire'' was a gunboat that the garrison at Gibraltar launched in June 1782 during the [[Great Siege of Gibraltar]]. She was one of 12. Each was armed with an 18-pounder gun, and received a crew of 21 men drawn from Royal Navy vessels stationed at Gibraltar. {{HMS|Brilliant|1779|2}} provided ''Spitfire''{{'}}s crew.<ref>Drinkwater (1905), p.246.</ref>

==See also==
* [[French gun-brig Crachefeu (1794)|HMS ''Crachefeu'']], "''Crachefeu''" being French for "Spitfire". 
* [[Supermarine Spitfire]], the [[fighter aircraft]] of [[World War II]].

==Citations==
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==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last=Demerliac |first=Alain |date=1996 |title=La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792 |location=Nice |publisher=Éditions OMEGA |isbn=2-906381-23-3}}
*[[John Drinkwater Bethune|Drinkwater, John]] (1905) ''A History of the Siege of Gibraltar, 1779-1783: With a Description and Account of that Garrison from the Earliest Times''. (J. Murray).
*{{cite book|last=Hepper|first=David J.|year=1994|title=British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859|publisher=Jean Boudriot|location=Rotherfield|isbn=0-948864-30-3}}
{{refend}}
{{Ship index}}
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[[Category:Royal Navy ship names]]