HMS Exeter

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Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Exeter after the city of Exeter in Devon.

The first Exeter was a 70-gun third-rate. Launched in 1680, she was involved in the battle of Beachy Head against France in 1690. However, the ship suffered damage from an explosion the next year and was hulked before being broken up in 1717.
The second Exeter was a 60-gun fourth-rate. She was built in 1697 and survived until 1763, making her the longest serving ship to carry the name so far. She was involved in repeated actions against the French, in 1702 off Newfoundland, in 1705 when she captured the frigate Thétis, in 1711 in the Mediterranean and at the Battle of Quiberon Bay, and in 1748 at the Siege of Pondicherry. Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood of Whitley, subsequently an Admiral and an important figure in British Naval history, served briefly on this vessel.
The third Exeter was a 64-gun third-rate launched in 1763. She earned Battle Honours in 1782 at Sadras, Providien, Negapatam and Trincomalee. She was burned as unseaworthy in 1784.
The fourth Exeter was a County-class heavy cruiser launched in 1929. In World War II she fought at the River Plate and the Java Sea, where she was sunk by Japanese heavy cruisers Nachi, Haguro, Ashigara and Myoko.
A cancelled Type 82 destroyer was to have borne the name Exeter.
The fifth Exeter is a Type 42 destroyer, launched in 1979 and seeing service in the Falklands War in 1982 and in the Gulf War 1991. Like the city of Exeter, with which she maintains close links, the ship bears the motto Semper fidelis.

Battle honours

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