Two ships of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
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 could displa ...
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). Years of experience proved that the third r ...
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