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The British have a tradition dating to at least WWII, perhaps earlier, of naming all ships in a class with a single letter. This tradition seems more prevalent in the smaller ships.
More recently they seem to be using the names of cities and towns more frequently.
They have a long history of ship names so almost every name has been used before, and they current ship recognizes that fact and carries the battle honors of its namesakes. Ships also have affiliations with Namesakes, Army Units, RAF ousts and towns. The also have ships mottoes. Bases are also "ships" and have a name of a former floating vessel attached to them.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Royal_Navy_ship_names for other lists.
Single type ships have been left off this list
| Type |
Batch |
Pattern |
Names |
Time Period |
| Glorious Class Aircraft Carriers |
? |
Glorious, Corageous
| 1916 |
| Illustrious Class Aircraft Carriers |
? |
Illustrious, Formidable, Victorius
| 1939 |
| Implacable Class Aircraft Carriers |
Letter I |
Implacable, Indefatigable
| 1942 |
| Colossus Class Light Aircraft Carriers |
? |
Colossus, Glory, Ocean, Theseus, Triumph, Venerable, Vengeance, Warrior, Perseus, Pioneer
| 1943, 1944 |
| Majestic Class Light Aircraft Carriers |
? |
Majestic, Hercules, Leviathan, HMCS Magnificant, Powerful, Terrible
| 1944, 1945 |
| Centaur Class Light Fleet Aircraft Carriers |
? |
Centaur, Albion, Bulwark, Hermes
| 1947-1953 |
| Audacious Class Aircraft Carriers |
? |
Eagle (Canceled), Ark Royal, Africa (Canceled), Audacious (renamed Eagle)
| 1942-1950 |
| Invincible Class Aircraft Carriers |
Letter I |
Invincible, Illustrious, Ark Royal (planned as Indomitable) |
1981-Current |
| Queen Elizebeth Class Aircraft Carriers |
Royalty |
Queen Elizebeth, Prince of Wales
| 2012+ |
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