HMS Kent is the latest in a long line of famous warships and boasts a proud total of sixteen Battle Honours, including five during the 20th Century.

The First Kent, 1653 - 1672
The first Kent was originally known as the Kentish Frigate and was a 4th Rate of 46 guns built in Deptford in 1653. She spent seven years in Oliver Cromwell's Navy during which time she attacked a squadron of Tunisian warships lying in Porto Farina, on the Barbary Coast. She silenced both the guns of both the ships and the fort to win her third battle honours. She was renamed HMS Kent by Charles II in his restoration to the throne. She served with distinction in the second Dutch war, the Battle of Lowestoft and the Battle of Orfordness and was driven ashore as a prison ship in 1672.

The Second Kent, 1679 - 1744
Six years later the second Kent, a 3rd Rate of 70 guns, was launched at Blackwall. She gained the next four Battle Honours fighting the French and Spanish in the Mediterranean in more celebrated victories than any other Kent to date. Her first action was in 1692 when as part of the Anglo-Dutch fleet she fought in the Battle of Barfleur. In 1702 she was in Admiral Rooke's fleet during the Battle of Vigo, a famous action in which the entire fleet of seventeen French warships and seventeen Spanish galleons were captured or destroyed. Five years later in the Battle of Malaga, Kent helped to defeat a Franco-Spanish attempt to capture the Rock of Gibraltar, earlier taken by Rooke. In 1718, in Admiral Byng's fleet, she helped fight off a Spanish force threatening Sicily. In 1774, Kent was serving in Admiral Vernon's West Indies fleet and took part in her last engagement, the bombardment of the Spanish Garrison at Santiago da Cuba. Finally, after a long and glorious life of 65 years, she was condemned as unfit for further service and broken up.

The Third Kent, 1746 - 1757
The third HMS Kent was again a 3rd Rate, this time of 74 guns and was commissioned at Deptford in 1746. Her first taste of action was in 1747 off Cape Finisterre when she was part of a fleet sent to intercept a convoy of 250 French ships bound home from the West Indies. Soon after this the ship distinguished herself, this time under Admiral Hawke at the battle of Ushant. The action resulted in the destruction of most of the French consorts of a strongly defended convoy. In 1756, she joined the East Indies Squadron under Admiral Watson and took part in the recapture of Calcutta and the relief of the Black Hole from the infamous Suraj ud Dowlah. General Clive was heavily engaged with the French in India at the time and some of Kent's Ships Company joined the Naval brigade which assisted Clive's victory at the Battle of Plessey.

The Fourth Kent, 1762 - 1784
The Fourth Kent, was another 3rd Rate of 74 guns. She suffered an explosion in 1774 when a piece of wadding from a cannon was blown inboard and landed in an open arms chest on the poop deck. The explosion caused major damage and, although she was rebuilt, she never saw active service in her twenty-one years.

The Fifth Kent, 1797 - 1881
The fifth Kent was the fourth, and last, 3rd Rate. She was built on the Thames and claimed her first victim on the day of her launch when she hit an East Indiaman that was being launched on and adjacent slipway. This was three years before the end of the war with Revolutionary France allied with Holland. In 1799 Admiral Duncan flew his flag in Kent to receive the Dutch surrender. Two years later, Kent helped to escort General Abercrombie's army to Egypt where the destroyed Napoleon's hopes of advancing through the Middle East to India. In 1812, Kent's active life ended and she was laid up at Devonport. When she was finally broken up in 1881 she had become so much of a landmark that her figurehead was preserved at the main gate of the dockyard.

The Sixth Kent, 1799 - 1801
The sixth Kent was an armed cutter only existed for two years, while the fifth Kent was still in commission. She was an armed cutter of fourteen guns and spent her two years in the Downs Squadron.

The Seventh Kent, 1860
The seventh Kent was laid down in 1860 but was cancelled before launch in 1862.

The Eighth Kent, 1880
The eighth Kent was originally known as HMS Impregnable and then became HMS Caledonia in 1891.

The Ninth Kent, 1901 - 1920
The ninth Kent was built in Portsmouth and commissioned in 1901 as a First Class cruiser. August 1914 saw her in the dockyard hands at Portsmouth. She sailed in the October to escort Transports from South Africa shortly before the Battle of Colonel. It was no surprise to Kent to be ordered to join Admiral Sturdee's squadron to seek and destroy the German squadron under Admiral Van Spree. Kent successfully chased the Nurnberg for seven hours eventually catching her, and after an engagement of just over and hour, sank her. The rest of Kent's year was spent on convoy duties and resistance to the Bolshevik Revolution. In 1920 she was paid off in Hong Kong. Her Battle ensign is laid up in Canterbury Cathedral and her ship's bell is in Rochester Cathedral.

The Tenth Kent, 1928 - 1947
The tenth Kent was one of the first County Class cruisers, built under the Washington Agreement, which limited displacement to 10,000 tonnes and the biggest gun to 8" calibre. The Countess of Stanhope, who had launched the ship, commissioned her on the 25th June 1928. Six weeks after the Commissioning she arrived in Hong Kong to hoist the flag of the Commander-in-Chief and start the first eleven years of her life as the Flagship in the China Fleet. Those were good years for Kent and, as one commission followed another, she built up a reputation which stood her in good stead during WW2. Kent was hit by a bomb in Devonport but recommissioned in time to join the Fleet in Scapa in October 1943. From then until 1944 she patrolled the Northern approaches to the Atlantic and escorted more than 18 convoys to Russia. In 1944, the ship took part in a number of operations off the Norwegian coast which were, at first, designed to direct Hitler's attention away from Normandy. At last, on 14th November 1944, flying the flag of Rear Admiral McGrigor, Kent led a successful attack on a convoy of 11 ships and escorts off Lister fjord. This was the ship's last action and she was transferred to the Reserve fleet in January 1945. Two years later she was broken up.

The Eleventh Kent, 1963 - 1997
The eleventh Kent was laid down in Belfast by Harland and Wolff in 1960 and Commissioned in 1963. She was a County Class destroyer and one of her more unusual roles was that of host ship to the 'Withdrawl from Empire' negotiations in Gibraltar. She was present at the Jubilee Review at Spithead in 1977 and her Cold War career ended in 1984 when became a Harbour Training Ship for the Sea Cadet Corps. In 1998 she was towed to India to be broken up.

The Modern HMS Kent
HMS Kent is the twelfth ship to bear the name and the Royal Navy’s fourteenth Type 23 'Duke Class' frigate. She was built at Yarrows Shipyard in Glasgow by BAE Systems and Launched by her Sponsor, HRH Princess Alexandra on 28 May 1998 and was accepted into service on 09 Feb 2000.  HMS Kent was the first ship to join the Royal Navy in the 21st Century.

Battle Honours

1653	Portland (the Kentish Frigate)	1654	Gabbard (the Kentish Frigate)
1655	Porto Farina	1665	Lowestoft
1666	Orfordness	1692	Barfleur
1702	Vigo	1703	Velez Malaga
1718	Cape Passero	1747	Ushant
1801	Egypt	1914	Falkland Islands
1940	Atlantic	1940	Mediterranean
1942 - 43	Arctic	1944	Norway