HMS

[Dobbs]

Does it bother anyone else that all of the British ship names include HMS? They're British! Of course they're HMS! What are the French, or Dutch, or Russian initials?

[Bligh]

As far as I know the Dutch Navy was KM. (Koninklijke Marine)
After the Revolution the French ships did not have any Prefix.
Rob.

[TexaS]

There are many navies that use that form. Sweden - Hans or Hennes Majestäts Skepp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Her_Majesty%27s_Ship

See "See also" for more.

[csadn]

After the Revolution the French ships did not have any Prefix.

Of course they did -- they eventually became "HMS".... >;)

[csadn]

After the Revolution the French ships did not have any Prefix.

Of course they did -- they eventually became "HMS".... >;)

[Dobbs]

Isn't it kind of redundant to have the ships listed with HMS if they have a British naval flag? The American sloops don't have USS before their names, and did anyone else have a Constitution?

And another thing, the debate of whether a ship is the "Surprise", or just "Surprise". Our boat is "Grace", not the "Grace". It seems that nowadays we drop the "the", but that was that always so?

When I asked the French folks at "L'Hermione", they just got confused, but thought that not all French ships started with "the"...

[Naharaht]

The prefix HMS enables someone to distinguish between Royal Navy ships and merchant ships, particularly East India Company ships. At sea they may be identified by their flag but in documents the prefix is necessary unless you want to look through long lists of ship names.

[BSG_Fan]

Isn't it kind of redundant to have the ships listed with HMS if they have a British naval flag? The American sloops don't have USS before their names, and did anyone else have a Constitution?

The Atalanta does have a USS prefix; the Thorn doesn't because it is a privateer. Like it or not, Ares has been fairly consistent.