HMS Hermes

Three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Hermes, after Hermes, the messenger god of Greek mythology:

• The first Hermes was a converted cruiser that was used as an experimental seaplane tender by the Royal Naval Air Service shortly before World War I. She was sunk by a German U-boat in 1914.
• The second Hermes was the first purpose built fleet aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, built just after the First World War. She served in World War II and was sunk by Japanese air attack off Ceylon on 9 April 1942.
• The third Hermes (R12) was the last of the postwar conventional aircraft carriers commissioned into the Royal Navy (1959), later serving in the Falklands War, then sold to the Indian Navy and recommissioned as Viraat.

zh:竞技神号航空母舰

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