HMS Vectis (D51) HMS Vectis (D51) HMS "Vectis" (D51) was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War I and the Russian Civil War. "Vectis", the first Royal Navy ship of the name, was ordered in July 1916. She was laid down by J. Samuel White at Cowes, Isle of Wight and launched on 4 September 1917. She was completed on 5 December 1917. V- and W-class destroyers like "Vectis" were assigned to the Grand Fleet or Harwich Force for the rest of World War I. In early June 1918, "Vectis" conducted towing trials with the NS-class
Great Britain to by a single name for over 2000 years: the term 'British Isles' derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of "Prettanikē" as a collective name for the British Isles. However, with the Roman conquest of Britain the Latin term "Britannia" was used for the island of Great Britain, and later Roman-occupied Britain south of Caledonia. The earliest known name for Great Britain is "Albion" () or "insula Albionum", from either the Latin "albus" meaning "white" (possibly referring to the white cliffs of Dover, the first view