Eight ships of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Challenger, most famously the survey vessel Challenger that carried the Challenger expedition from 1872 to 1876.

• The first Challenger was a 16-gun brig-sloop launched in 1806 and captured by the French in 1811.
• The second Challenger was an 18-gun brig-sloop launched in 1813 and later used as a store hulk before being sold in 1824.
• The third Challenger was a 28-gun 6th rate launched in 1826 and wrecked off Chile in 1835.
• The fourth Challenger was to have been an 18-gun corvette of 810 tons; the ship was ordered from Chatham Dockyard in 1845, but cancelled in 1848.
• The fifth Challenger was a screw corvette launched in 1858, converted to a survey ship in 1872 in preparation for her famous voyage, hulked in 1880, and sold in 1921.
• The sixth Challenger was a 2nd class cruiser in service from 1902 to 1920.
• The seventh Challenger was a survey ship launched in 1931 and broken up 1954.
• The eighth Challenger, the RN's first purpose built ship for support of saturation diving missions, was launched in 1981 and sold in 1993.