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In 1913, lettered names were given to all Royal Navy destroyers, previously known after the first ship of that class. The River or E class of 1913 were the first destroyers of the Royal Navy with a high forecastles instead of "turtleback" bow making this the first class with a more recognizable modern configuration.
The Q and R-class destroyers were two classes of sixteen War Emergency Programme destroyers ordered for the Royal Navy in 1940 as the 3rd and 4th Emergency Flotilla. They served as convoy escorts during World War II. Three Q-class ships were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy upon completion, with two further ships being handed over in 1945.
This is an alphabetical list of the names of all ships that have been in service with the Royal Navy, or with predecessor fleets formally in the service of the Kingdom of England or the Commonwealth of England. The list also includes fictional vessels which have prominently featured in literature about the Royal Navy.
Historically, naval ships flew a flag that identified a flotilla or type of vessel. For example, the Royal Navy used a red burgee for torpedo boats and a pennant with an H for torpedo boat destroyers. Adding a number to the type-identifying flag uniquely identified each ship.
At the beginning of the Second World War, the Royal Navy was the strongest navy in the world. It had 20 battleships and battlecruisers ready for service or under construction, twelve aircraft carriers, over 90 light and heavy cruisers, 70 submarines, over 100 destroyers as well as numerous escort ships, minelayers, minesweepers and 232 aircraft.
These identification codes were, and still are, painted on the side of the ship. Each navy has its own system: the United States Navy uses hull classification symbols, and the Royal Navy (e.g. 'D35' is destroyer 35 – HMS Dragon) and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth use pennant numbers. [citation needed]
The last class of ships built with mixed names were the Acasta or K class of the 1911–1912 program. From the L class of the 1912–1913 program onwards, ships took the initial letter of their name from the class letter, although large classes such as the M, R, and S were allocated more than one initial letter.
This list of ships of the Second World War contains major military vessels of the war, arranged alphabetically and by type. The list includes armed vessels that served during the war and in the immediate aftermath, inclusive of localized ongoing combat operations, garrison surrenders, post-surrender occupation, colony re-occupation, troop and prisoner repatriation, to the end of 1945.