There have been three warships of the Royal Navy to bear the name HMS Cardiff, after the capital of Wales. The ships motto is "Agris in cardine rerum" which translates as "Keen in emergency". She has certainly adhered to that motto, whether it be in war or peace-time disaster relief operations.

• The first Cardiff was not built on the shores of Britain, but captured from the Dutch in 1652 by HMS Tiger , during the numerous clashes that took place between England and the Netherlands. She was a modest 360 ton ship with an armament of 8 guns. Her primary roles were fishery and convoy protection, though in 1658 her relatively brief career in the RN came to an end when she was sold to Jamaica.
• The second Cardiff was a light cruiser commissioned in 1917. She was broken up in 1946 after a long career.
• The third and present Cardiff is a Type 42 (Batch 1) destroyer commissioned in 1979. She was involved in the 2003 Iraq War, though only because she was in the region for her Armilla Patrol duties. In service as of 2004.