The name Delight recurred across more than three centuries of English and Royal Navy vessels. The sequence begins with a 1583 discovery vessel wrecked off Sable Island, followed by a four-gun hoy in 1686 and sailing warships of several rates and rigs. An 1801 Delight had previously been the French corvette Sans Pareil before HMS Mercury captured her, and the nineteenth-century list continued through brig-sloops and a later gunboat. In the twentieth century the name passed to a D-class destroyer launched in 1932 and sunk in 1940. A Daring-class destroyer launched in 1950 was initially to be called Disdain before receiving the older name and serving until sale in 1970. The roll call shows how recurring ship names connect very different eras, hull types, and naval roles.
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The long history of the name Delight
The name Delight links vessels from a sixteenth-century discovery voyage to a twentieth-century Daring-class destroyer.