The Highflyer class cruisers were a three-ship class of second-class protected cruiser

Protected cruiser

The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...

s of the Royal Navy

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...

, laid down in 1897 and completed at an average cost of £300,000.

They were essentially repeats of the Eclipse class

Eclipse class cruiser

The Eclipse-class cruisers of the Royal Navy were protected cruisers constructed in the mid-1890s.-Design and history:They were enlarged versions of the preceding Astraea class. Between 1903 and 1905, all of the ships in the class except for Eclipse had their mixed and guns removed and replaced...

, 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

Arrogant class cruiser

The Arrogant class cruiser was a class of four protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy at the end of the 1890s.-External links:*...

, with slightly upgraded machinery, but unlike the Arrogant class they were not designed to act as rams

Naval ram

A naval ram was a weapon carried by varied types of ships, dating back to antiquity. The weapon consisted of an underwater prolongation of the bow of the ship to form an armoured beak, usually between six and twelve feet in length...

. 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

Challenger class cruiser

The Challenger class cruisers were a two-ship class of second class protected cruisers of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy.-Ships: - Sold 1920 - To Australia 1912 as HMAS Encounter, renamed Penguin 1923, scuttled 1932.-References:...

 they were the last British light cruisers before HMS Bristol

HMS Bristol (1910)

The fifth HMS Bristol was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 23 February 1910 at John Brown & Company's Clydebank shipyard....

 was laid down in 1909.

Ships

• HMS Highflyer
  HMS 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...
  
   - launched on 4 June 1898, she served on numerous stations and hunted commerce raiders. She was sold for scrapping 10 June 1921, by then the last Victorian era
  Victorian era
  The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
  
   cruiser in service with the Royal Navy
  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...
  
  .
• 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
  Unterseeboot 27 (1913)
  SM U-27 was a German Type U-27 U-boat built for service in the Kaiserliche Marine. She was launched on 14 July 1913, and commissioned on 8 May 1914 with Kapitänleutnant Bernd Wegener in command....
  
  
• HMS Hyacinth
  HMS Hyacinth (1898)
  HMS Hyacinth was one of the Highflyer class cruisers of the Royal Navy. She was built by the London and Glasgow Shipbuilding Company in Glasgow, being laid down in January 1897, launched on 27 October 1898 and commissioned in September 1900....
  
   - 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.

External links