HMS Dreadnought. Called “the most deadly fighting machine ever launched in the history of the world,” in 1906 Dreadnought was the first all big-gun battleship and it set the standard for the largest naval battleships before the First World War. Its launch started a race for maritime supremacy with all the major powers, including Germany, which rushed to build dreadnought-type ships.

The first such ship, launched in 1910, was Dante Alighieri. Though the ship was completed in 1913, it saw little action during the First World war and would never fire its guns in anger throughout its career.

HMS Queen Mary, HMS Invincible and HMS Indefatigable. The three British battlecruisers were struck by German shells and blew up, sinking during the battle of Jutland, thanks in part to poor ammunition-handling procedures. These dramatic losses, along with the wrongly reported news that HMS Princess Royal had also been blown up, provoked Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty’s famous outburst: “There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today!”

HMS Hood was the pride of the British fleet. The Bismarck had been tracked down in the North Atlantic, northeast of Iceland, by British cruisers, and was then engaged by HMS Hood, along with HMS Prince of Wales.Commanded by Admiral Günther Lütjens, Flottenchef (‘Chief of Fleet’) of the German Fleet, the Bismarck sunk the Hood, resulting in the death of more than 1,400 of its crew.The Bismarck itself was hunted down and sunk by British vessels several days later on 27 May 1941 (though the final blow was levied by the German vessel’s own crew).

Canada. Four Royal Canadian Navy destroyers joined the wide variety of vessels, including civilian and merchant ships, that assisted in the evacuation. Vessels came from many allies of Britain and France, including Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands. The success of the evacuation from Dunkirk strengthened not only Britain’s defences in the face of a German invasion threat, but also Churchill’s position against those like the foreign secretary, Lord Halifax, who favoured discussing peace terms. More than 81 years later, Dunkirk is still synonymous with refusing to give up in times of crisis.

Mahan-class. This was changed to a Fletcher-class destroyer for the 2018 film Greyhound starring Tom Hanks, in which the real Fletcher-class destroyer USS Kidd stood in for the fictional Keeling. (This was anachronistic since the Fletcher-class had not yet been commissioned at the time the events are set.)Forester’s novel is set during the battle of the Atlantic, an epic of drama and of strategic importance. In fact, it can be argued pretty convincingly that it was the most vital of all campaigns in the Second World War, writes James Holland.

The battle of Santa Cruz. During the battle on 26 October 1942, Hornet was hit by Japanese bombs and damaged enemy dive bombers, and was ordered to be sunk by US Vice Admiral William Halsey (though it was Japanese destroyers that finally sunk it).