HMS Formidable

At least six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Formidable.

• Formidable was an 80-gun ship of the line captured from the French at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759.

• Formidable was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line which fought at the Battle of Ushant (1778) and served as Rodney's flagship at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782.

• Formidable was a 74 gun ship of the line, captured from the French in 1795, and renamed HMS Belleisle.

• Formidable was an 84 gun ship of the line, built in 1825 and sold in 1906.

• Formidable was the lead ship of her class of battleship. She was torpedoed on January 1, 1915, the first battleship to be sunk during the First World War. The wreck site is designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act.

• Formidable was an Illustrious-class aircraft carrier launched in 1939 and scrapped in 1956.