HMS Highflyer
Encyclopedia
Four vessels of the British Royal Navy
have been named HMS Highflyer.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
have been named HMS Highflyer.
- The first HighflyerHMS Highflyer (1813)HMS Highflyer was originally an American privateer schooner built in 1811. As a privateer she took several British vessels as prizes. The Royal Navy captured her in 1813...
was an 8-gun schoonerSchoonerA schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
operating as an American privateerPrivateerA privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
. In January 1813 HMS PoictiersHMS Poictiers (1809)HMS Poictiers was a 74-gun Royal Navy third rate. This ship of the line was launched on 9 December 1809 at Upnor. She played a small role in the War of 1812. She was broken up in 1857.-Active service:...
captured her. The Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
took Highflyer into service, retaining her name. The Americans recaptured her in September of that year. - The second Highflyer was a 2-gun tenderShip's tenderA ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship used to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or supplies to and from shore or another ship...
in service from 1822 to 1833. - The third HighflyerHMS Highflyer (1851)HMS Highflyer was a 21-gun wooden screw frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built on the River Thames by C J Mare and launched on 13 August 1851...
was a wooden-hulled screw frigateScrew frigateSteam frigates and the smaller steam corvettes were steam-powered warships.The first vessel that can be considered a steam frigate was the Demologos which was launched in 1815 for the United States Navy....
launched in 1851 and broken up 1871. - The fourth HighflyerHMS Highflyer (1898)HMS Highflyer was the lead ship of the Highflyer class cruiser which served with the Royal Navy. She was built at the yards of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, being laid down in June 1897, launched on 4 June 1898 and commissioned on 7 December 1899.-Pre-1914:Like her sisters...
was a 2nd class cruiser launched 1898 and sold in 1921. - Highflyer was also the name of the Royal Navy shore establishment in TrincomaleeTrincomaleeTrincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
, Ceylon until 1958.