Whaleback HSL 164, a Type Two 63 ft HSL, off Colombo with a Hawker Hurricane overhead

A high-speed launch (HSL) is a type of military boat typically used for air-sea rescue operations. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) and others used HSLs especially during World War II.

The 64 ft. high-speed, air/sea rescue launch built by British Power Boat Company (BPBC) was one of the earliest high-speed offshore rescue vessel used by the Royal Air Force.[1] The prototype, numbered 100, gave its name to the class as the "100 class"; High Speed Launch 102 is the only surviving boat from that class.[1] It was tested in 1936 and production boats were delivered in 1937.[2]

Later designs included the 1941 Type Two 63 ft HSL "Whaleback", an adaptation of a motor anti-submarine boat, the first HSL to include gun turrets.[3] British Power Boat chief designer George Selman later designed the 68 ft. "Hants & Dorset" [4]

By May 1944, The RAF had 130 HSLs.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "High Speed Launch 102". Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust.
  2. ^ Canwell and Sutherland 2013 p191
  3. ^ Canwell and Sutherland 2013 p41
  4. ^ Canwell and Sutherland 2013 p191
  5. ^ Pitchfork, Graham (2017). Shot Down and in the Drink: True Stories of RAF and Commonwealth Aircrews Saved from the Sea in WWII. Bloomsbury. p. 57. ISBN 9781472827258.


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