Six ships (and one shore establishment) of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sphinx or HMS Sphynx, after the mythical creature, the Sphinx:
was a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1748 and sold in 1770. was a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1775. The French captured her in September 1779,Demerliac (1996), p.69, #432. but recaptured her on 29 November 1779. She was broken up in 1811. was a 10-gun launched in 1815 that became a Post Office Packet Service packet, sailing out of Falmouth, Cornwall. She was sold in 1835. was a wooden paddle sloop launched in 1846 and broken up in 1881. was a composite paddle vessel launched in 1882 and sold in 1919. was an launched in 1939 that foundered in 1940 after an air attack. HMS Sphinx was the name given to a naval accommodation camp in Alexandria, Egypt, from April 1941.
Citations
References Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA).