Nineteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Defiance:

• The first Defiance was a pinnace of 8 guns that took part in the action against the Spanish Armada in 1588.
• The second Defiance was a 46-gun galleon built in 1590 and sold in 1650.
• The third Defiance was a 10-gun ship that served with the Royalists during the English Civil War. She foundered in 1652 in the West Indies.
• The fourth Defiance was a 66-gun third-rate ship of the line built in 1666 and burned in 1668.
• The fifth Defiance was a sloop in service between 1671 and 1678.
• The sixth Defiance was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line, built in 1675 and broken up in 1749.
• The seventh Defiance was a 69-gun fourth-rate built in 1744 and sold in 1766.
• The eighth Defiance was a sloop built at Bombay in 1766.
• The ninth Defiance was a 64-gun third-rate built in 1772 and wrecked in 1780 off the Savannah River.
• The tenth Defiance was a third-rate of 74 guns . She fought at the battle of Trafalgar and was broken up in 1817.
• The eleventh Defiance was a 4-gun gunboat built in 1794 and sold in 1797.
• The twelfth Defiance was a 91-gun screw wooden ship, launched at Pembroke in 1861. She became the Navy's torpedo school ship in 1884 and was sold in 1931.

From 1884 the Royal Navy's torpedo school ship has been named HMS Defiance. After the 1861 Defiance listed above, seven other ships have been part of the school and renamed Defiance:

• Perseus from 1904–1931
• Spartan from 1921–1931
• Cleopatra from 1922–1931
• Inconstant from 1922–1956
• Andromeda from 1931–1956
• Vulcan from 1931–1955
• Forth from 1972–1978

The school moved ashore at Portsmouth in 1955, becoming a stone frigate.

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