Six ships of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Bristol, after the port of Bristol.

• The first Bristol was a 48-gun ship launched in 1653, completely rebuilt in 1693, captured by the French in April 1709, recaptured two weeks later and sunk.
• The second Bristol was a 54-gun fourth-rate, launched in 1711 and broken up 1768.
• The third Bristol was a 30-gun(?) fourth-rate launched in 1775, used as a prison ship after 1794, and broken up 1810.
• The fourth Bristol was a wooden screw frigate launched in 1861 and broken up in 1883
• The fifth Bristol was the name-ship of the Bristol class of light cruiser, displacing 4,800 tons, with a crew of 376, and capable of 27 knots. She was launched in 1910, and carried two 6" and ten 4" guns.
• Later in the 20th century, the name was applied to the first of the Type 82 class. These were to have escorted a new generation of large aircraft carriers to be built for the Royal Navy, cancelled in the 1966 defence review. With the cancellation of the ships they were meant to escort, only one type 82 was ever built, HMS Bristol (D23). The ship was launched in 1973.