HMS Portland explained

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Portland, either after Portland Harbour in Dorset or after holders of the title of the Duke of Portland:

• was a 50-gun fourth rate launched at Wapping in 1653 and burnt to avoid capture in 1692.
• was a 48-gun fourth rate launched in 1693, rebuilt in 1723 and broken up in 1743.
• was a 50-gun fourth rate launched in 1744 and sold in 1763.
• was a 50-gun fourth rate launched in 1770. She was converted to a 10-gun storeship in 1800 and a prison ship in 1802. She was sold in 1817.
• was a barge probably used to defend Plymouth. She was purchased in 1795 and was sold on 29 December 1799 for £155.^[1]
• was a 52-gun fourth rate launched in 1822. She was to have been named HMS Kingston, but this was changed before launch in 1817. She was sold in 1862.
• HMS Portland was to have been a . She was laid down in 1941 and renamed later that year. The Japanese captured her in 1941 whilst she was under construction; she became the . The Americans sank her in 1945.
• is a Type 23 frigate launched in 1999 and currently in service.

Battle honours

Ships named Portland have earned the following battle honours:

• Scheveningen 1653
• Lowestoft 1665
• Four Days' Battle 1666
• Orfordness 1666
• Coventry 1709
• Auguste 1746
• Ushant 1747
• Magnanime 1748
• Lagos 1759
• Quiberon Bay 1759

See also

• was a 50-gun fourth rate, previously the . She was captured in 1746 by and was sold in 1749.
• was a repair ship launched in 1945 and sold into civilian service in 1951, where she was renamed Zinnia.

Notes and References

1. Great Britain: Commissioners of Naval Enquiry (1803) The First (second-twelfth) Report of the Commissioners of Naval Enquiry, Appointed by Act 43 Geo. III. (Observations, by Way of Supplement, to the First Report of the Commissioners of Naval Enquiry, on the Memorial of the Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy, in Answer to that Report.), p.116.