HMS Marlborough was a 'Duke'-class Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy, and the sixth ship to bear the name. She was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.

Royal Navy service

Marlborough was the third 'Duke' class Type 23 frigate to be commissioned, the first being Norfolk, F230 and the second Argyll, F231. She carried pennant number F233 rather than the sequential number of F232 which was considered unlucky, Form S.232 being the formal notification of a grounding or collision. The course 232 is also traditionally not given for the same reason, with a course heading of half degree either side of 232 being the alternative.

Marlborough was the first naval ship on the scene to assist the stricken USS Cole after she was attacked in Aden, Yemen in October 2000. Marlborough, under the command of Captain Anthony Rix, was on passage to the UK after a six-month deployment in the Gulf and had a full medical detachment on board; when her offer of assistance was accepted she immediately diverted to Aden.

Six warships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Marlborough after the Duke of Marlborough:

HMS St Michael was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by John Tippetts of Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1669.

St Michael was rebuilt at Blackwall Yard in 1706, at which time she was also renamed HMS Marlborough. On 5 April 1725 Marlborough was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Chatham. She was relaunched on 25 September 1732.

Marlborough was reduced to a 68-gun ship in 1752. Whilst making her way back to Britain after participating in the reduction of Havana in 1762, Marlborough was caught in very heavy weather. On 29 November her crew were forced to abandon the ship, which was sinking. All of Marlborough's crew were taken off by HMS Antelope.

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HMS Monarch was an Orion-class battleship of the Royal Navy. She served in the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet in World War I, and fought at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916, suffering no damage.

As a result of the Washington Naval Convention she was decommissioned in 1921 and was used as an experimental and target ship. She was sunk by HMS Revenge in 1925.

Following the Colossus class, Britain's next class of battleship were the Orion class. Beaten to a world's first by the American South Carolina class commissioned in 1910, these were the first battleships in the Royal Navy to feature an all-big-gun armament on the centre line.

With the possibility of war looming the cost savings made by limiting the displacement of the Dreadnought types were dispensed with, resulting in a far better and larger ship. The Orion class also saw the introduction of the new 13.5 inch gun. To achieve greater hitting power in the later variants of Dreadnought the barrels of the 12 inch guns had been lengthened to increase the muzzle velocity and hence the range and impact energy. This was, however, a less satisfactory gun with poor accuracy due to excessive muzzle droop and with a short active life due to higher wear levels. In the 13.5 inch gun a return to lower muzzle velocities was made, the hitting power being increased by the greater weight of the shell fired by the bigger gun, making it a more accurate and more powerful weapon.