HMS Defiant

The HMS Defiant was a British warship from the 18th century.

The USS Defiant (NCC-1764) was named after this ship, and had a painting of it in its briefing room. 

Both the USS Defiant (2370) and its successor, the USS Defiant (2375), were namesakes in the 24th century. 

Background
While there has been a long line of British naval vessels to bear the name Defiance, including a torpedo school ship and three United States naval vessels, there never was an HMS Defiant serving in the Royal Navy in real life. A fictional Defiant was seen in the 1962 movie  (based on the Frank Tilsey novel Mutiny), which may have been the namesake for the starship.

The painting depicted a warship. Dependent on the number of guns, a ship-of-the-line was ranked from first-rate (greatest number of guns) to fourth-rate (lowest number of guns). Based on the number of gun decks visible, three in total, in the painting, the Defiant was either a first-rate or a second-rate ship. The difference between a first-rate and a second-rate could be as few as two guns (though firing lighter shot) and, without knowing more about the Defiant, it's not possible to conclusively decide the ship's rating. The six real ships named that served during the 18th century were all third-rate or smaller.

HMS Defiant