HMS Zephyr
Introduction Nine ships of the Royal Navy have been named '''HMS ''Zephyr''''' after Zephyrus, the Greek god of the west wind:* HMS ''Zephyr'', originally the sloop HMS ''Merlin'', was captured by a French privateer in 1757.The British recaptured her in 1757 and the Royal Navy took her into service as ''Zephyr''. The French frigate ''Gracieuse'' recaptured her in August 1778; she was disarmed and sold at Toulon in January 1780 for Lt44,200.The purchasers turned her into a privateer, which the British privateer ''Fame'' captured and burnt on 26 August 1780. * , launched in 1779, was a 14-gun sloop. She was renamed ''Navy Transport'' in 1782, and then ''Dispatch'' in 1783 before being sold in 1798. * , launched in 1795, was a 10-gun fireship. She was sold in 1808. * , launched in 1809, was a 16-gun brig-sloop. She was sold in 1818 for breaking up. * , launched in 1823, was a  6-gun packet-brig. She immediately became a Falmouth packet. She was sold in 1836. * , transferred into service in 1837, was a 3-gun wooden paddle picket. She was sold in 1865 for breaking up. * , launched in 1873, was a 4-gun composite screw gunboat. She was sold in 1889 to become a salvage vessel. She was broken up in 1929. * , launched in 1895, was a  destroyer. She was sold in 1920. * , launched in 1943, was a Z-class destroyer. She was broken up in 1958.
Battle honours * Quebec 1759* Martinique 1762* Copenhagen 1801* Baltic 1854* Arctic 1945
Citations
References **Demerliac, Alain (1996) ''La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792''. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA).