Lernaean Hydra just to slay Heracles. Upon reaching the swamp near Lake Lerna, where the Hydra dwelt, Heracles covered his mouth and nose with a cloth to protect himself from the poisonous fumes. He shot flaming arrows into the Hydra's lair, the spring of Amymone, a deep cave from which it emerged only to terrorize neighboring villages. He then confronted the Hydra, wielding either a harvesting sickle (according to some early vase-paintings), a sword, or his famed club. The chthonic creature's reaction to this decapitation was botanical: two grew back, an expression of the hopelessness of such a struggle for any but
HMS Hydra (A144) the first commission of HMS "Hydra". She was decommissioned and sold to the Indonesian Navy in 1986 and renamed KRI "Dewa Kembar" (Pennant Number 932); she was still in service in 2006. There have been eight ships of the name in the Royal Navy, named for the Hydra of Greek Mythology, a serpent with many heads (though nine is generally accepted as standard), the centre one of which was immortal. The monster was overcome and slain by Hercules. The ship's badge of HMS "Hydra" depicts the monster with seven heads. The ship's motto was "Ut Herculis Perseverantia" ("Like Hercules Persevere").