Highflyer class cruiser

The "Highflyer" class cruisers were a three-ship class of second class protected cruisers of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1897 and completed at an average cost of £300,000.

They were essentially repeats of the "Eclipse" class, but carried eleven six inch main guns as the main armament instead of the mix of 6 inch and 4.7 inch guns used on the earlier ships. They also used water tube boilers like the "Arrogant" class, with slightly upgraded machinery, but unlike the "Arrogant" class they were not designed to act as rams. The watertube boilers raised the speed of the ships by half a knot, and were 100 tons lighter than the boilers used in the "Eclipse" class ships, almost making up for the increased weight of the guns. With the very similar "Challenger" class ships they were the last British light cruisers before HMS "Bristol" was laid down in 1909.

hips

*HMS "Highflyer" - launched on 4 June 1898, she served on numerous stations and hunted commerce raiders. She was sold for scrapping 10 June 1921, by now the last Victorian era cruiser in service with the Royal Navy.
*HMS "Hermes" - launched on 7 April 1898, she was converted to a seaplane carrier in 1913, and sunk on 31 October 1914 by U 27
*HMS "Hyacinth" - launched on 27 October 1898, she served on southern stations in the First World War, and assisted in the blockade of SMS "Königsberg". She was sold for scrapping on 11 October 1923.

ee also

*List of cruiser classes of the Royal Navy
*Protected cruiser

References

*Colledge
*Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/hms-Highflyer.html Highflyer class in World War I]
* [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_highflyer_class_cruisers.html History of the Highflyer class]
* [http://www.worldnavalships.com/hermes_class1.htm Highflyers]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/uk_sea.htm#herm Experimental seaplane carrier "Hermes"]