Two ships of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
have borne the name HMS ''Prince William'':
* was a 4-gun
flyboat
The flyboat (also spelled ''fly-boat'' or ''fly boat'') was a European light vessel of Dutch origin developed primarily as a mercantile cargo carrier, although many served as warships in an auxiliary role because of their agility. These vessels co ...
captured in 1665 and captured again by the Dutch in 1666.
* was a 64-gun
third rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker).
Rating
When the rating system was f ...
previously the Spanish ship ''Guispuscoano''. She was captured in 1780, converted to a sheer hulk in 1791 and was broken up in 1816.
A third vessel served the Royal Navy as HM
hired armed ship .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince William, Hms
Royal Navy ship names