Seven ships of the British Royal Navy have been called HMS Protector:

• HMS Protector (1749), a 44-gun fifth rate listed in 1749 that served in India and was wrecked on 1 January 1776 by a cyclone near Pondicherry.
• Protector, a fireship in service in 1758.
• HMS Protector (1805), a 178-ton, 12-gun brig launched on 1 February 1805. Converted to a survey ship in 1817, she was sold for breaking up in 1833.
• Protector, a Britomart-class gunboat laid down at Portsmouth in 1861 and cancelled on 12 December 1863.
• HMS Protector (A146), a net layer launched in 1936 and converted to an Antarctic patrol ship in 1955. Sold in 1970 for breaking up.
• HMS Protector (P244), a patrol vessel launched as the commercial vessel Seaforth Saga in 1975, purchased by the Royal Navy in 1983 and sold in 1987.
• HMS Protector (A173), the Antarctic patrol ship (ex-MV Polarbjørn); chartered in 2011 and purchased in 2013 as a replacement for HMS Endurance.