HMS Ganges was a training ship and later stone frigate of the Royal Navy. She was established as a boys' training establishment in 1865, and was based aboard a number of hulks before moving ashore. She was based alternately in Falmouth, Harwich (from 1899) and Shotley (from 1905). She remained in service at RNTE Shotley until October 1976.

HMS Ganges was also known as Shotley Training Establishment.

The increasing professionalism of the Royal Navy and the reform of practices during the mid-nineteenth century led to the need to establish new training centres at which recruits could be inducted into navy life. The Admiralty decided to set aside five old laid up hulks in different ports around the country, and use them as bases at which volunteers aged between 15 and 17 could spend a year being educated for future service in the navy. The plan called for an annual intake of 3,500 boys. They were to be trained in seamanship and gunnery, as well as traditional aspects of sea life. One of the hulks chosen to be converted into a school was the old 84-gun second-rate ship of the line HMS Ganges. Despite initial objections that her layout made her unsuitable for the task, the decision went ahead.

She put into Devonport on 5 May 1865 and underwent a refit. She took her first intake of 180 boys on 1 January 1866. They had been transferred from the training ship HMS Wellesley, then at Chatham. Wellesley's commander, Frederick H. Stevens also came with the boys and became Ganges's commanding officer. Having been refitted to provide accommodation for 500 boys, Ganges was towed to Mylor by the paddle tug Gladiator. She arrived on 20 March 1866 and was anchored in the Carrick Roads.

During Ganges's time in Cornwall allegations of harsh and brutal treatment were reported to the Admiralty. One wardroom steward shot himself over the matter, and the reports aroused indignation in the local community. Captain Tremlett, the senior officer of training ships, was ordered to investigate the situation and reported that Commander Stevens "had given punishments which were not laid down in the Training Regulations and had also prevented his ship's company from taking due leave." Stevens and his first lieutenant were subsequently removed, and were replaced by Commander F. W. Wilson on 24 July 1866. By the end of 1866 there were 478 boys at the establishment.

Ganges was occasionally sailed to Devonport to undergo refits. The establishment had become an important part of local life, as in 1870 a rumour began to circulate that Ganges would not return after one such refit. The mayor was pressured to contact the local Member of Parliament, and also to ask questions of a Government minister. The rumour was then disproved. By 1899 the declining number of boys joining Ganges led the Admiralty to decide to move her to a more populated area. Petitions were organised by the local councils, but were unable to sway the Admiralty. Ganges sailed from Mylor on 27 August 1899. She was refitted in Devonport, which involved her keel being scraped. The boys were quartered at HMS Lion and HMS Impregnable whilst this work was carried out. She then sailed to Sheerness in company with HMS Arrogant. She spent two months here before being towed to Harwich by the tug Alligator. She arrived on 11 November 1899. HMS Caroline had arrived shortly before Ganges and served as a temporary hospital ship.

Ganges commenced her usual role at Harwich, with Caroline providing medical facilities whilst shore facilities were constructed in the town. Hospital facilities had been completed by 1902 and Caroline was refitted at Chatham to serve as an overflow training ship for Ganges, providing accommodation for another 60 boys. Despite these developments, it was decided to move Ganges again, this time to Shotley, in Suffolk. Work had already begun there on new Royal Naval Sick Quarters. Ganges left Harwich in 1903 for Shotley. £20,000 had been set aside to build shore-based accommodation, and a further £80,000 had been earmarked to cover the future expansion of the facility.

New building works began in February 1904, and the old HMS Minotaur arrived. She had already spent time as a depot ship for various establishments. She had been named HMS Boscawen in March 1904 whilst at Portland and now arrived to provide further facilities for Ganges. The completion of shore works in 1905 led to the establishment of RNTE Shotley on 4 October. The facility included the buildings onshore and the ships offshore, which were HMS Ganges, HMS Caroline and HMS Boscawen II. The focus of the establishment now moved to shore based activities, and the capstan, bitts and figureheads were moved from the ships onto the shore. In November the establishment received the ex HMS Agincourt, which had been renamed HMS Boscawen III.