List of support ships of the Royal Navy

This is a list of support ships of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. There are currently no active ships. In World War I, obsolete hulks and cruisers were generally used for maintenance and support. Many commercial vessels were taken up from trade during both wars to act as depot ships. The first ship built specifically for the role was the Medway of 1928. Converted ships below are given with dates of conversion.

Ships

HMS Hazard (1894) – converted in 1901 into the world's first submarine depot ship
HMS Sandhurst (1915) – converted from Brocklebank Line steamship Manipur (1906). Variously described as destroyer depot ship and fleet repair ship
HMS Medway (1928) – submarine depot ship
HMS Resource (1928) – fleet repair ship
HMS Woolwich (1934) – destroyer depot ship
HMS Argenta (1922) – prison ship
Maidstone-class submarine depot ships
- HMS Maidstone (1937)
- HMS Forth (1938)
Tyne-class destroyer depot ships
- HMS Tyne (1940)
- HMS Hecla (1940)
HMS Adamant (1940) – submarine depot ship
HMS Vindictive (1940) – ex-training cruiser, destroyer depot ship
Unicorn (1943) – fleet aircraft maintenance carrier
HMS Adventure (1944) – ex-minelayer, landing craft repair ship
UK merchant ship conversions
- Hull repair type
  - Beauly Firth (1945)
  - Dullisk Cove (1944)
  - Mullion Sound (1945)
  - Solway Firth (1944)
- Aircraft component repair type
  - Cuillin Sound (1945)
  - Holm Sound (1944)
  - Moray Firth (1945)
Canadian merchant ship conversions
- Escort repair type (Beachy Head class)
  - HMS Beachy Head (1945)
  - Berry Head (1945)
  - Duncansby Head (1945)
  - HMS Flamborough Head (1945)
  - Mull of Galloway (1945)
  - Rame Head (1945)
- Landing craft repair type (Beachy Head class)
  - Buchan Ness (1945)
  - Dungeness (1945)
  - Fife Ness (1945)
  - HMS Girdle Ness (1945) – Sea Slug missile trials ship 1956
  - Dodman Point (1945)
  - Hartland Point (1945)
  - Spurn Point (1945)
- Coastal forces repair type
  - Cape Wrath (1946)
- Armaments repair type
  - Portland Bill (1945)
Colossus-class ex-light fleet carriers
- HMS Perseus (1944) – fleet aircraft maintenance ship
- HMS Pioneer (1944) – fleet aircraft maintenance ship
- HMS Triumph (1964) – fleet repair ship
HMS Challenger (1984) – seabed operations ship

Ships

See also