HMS Isis

Six ships of the British Royal Navy, and four tenders of the RNVR, have been named HMS Isis, after the Egyptian goddess Isis.

• The first Isis was a 50-gun 4th rate probably launched in 1744 as Colchester.

• The second Isis was the French ship Diamant captured in 1747 and converted to a 50-gun 4th rate, continuing in use until 1766.

• The third Isis was a 50-gun 4th rate launched in 1774, and broken up in 1810.

• The fourth Isis was a 50-gun 4th rate launched in 1819, hulked in 1861 and sold 1867.

• The fifth Isis was a 2nd class cruiser in use from 1896 to 1920.

• The sixth Isis (D-87) was an I class destroyer laid down by the Yarrow Shipbuilding Company, Limited, at Scotstoun in Glasgow on 6 February 1936, launched on 12 November 1936 and commissioned on 2 June 1937. Isis was involved in the evacuation of Greece in April 1941, and attacked and sank the enemy German submarine U-562 while in company with the frigate HMS Hursley and a Wellington aircraft of the Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean north-east of Bengazi on 19 February 1943. HMS Isis struck a mine and sank off the Normandy beaches on 20 July 1944.