HMS Cricket was the name given to a Royal Navy shore establishment on the River Hamble from 1943 to 1946. This name was previously used by the Insect class gunboat, HMS Cricket that was scrapped in 1942. It was decided to close HMS Cricket after the end of the Second World War, a decision taken on 1 March 1946. The last arrivals were on 20 May 1946 and Cricket was probably decommissioned on 15 July 1946, three years after commissioning. Its many buildings were subsequently used for temporary post-war accommodation for the civilian population of Southampton.