Category:Hired armed vessels of the Royal Navy

During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries the Royal Navy hired a considerable number of smaller vessels, often cutters and luggers, for duties ranging from carrying despatches and passengers to convoy escort and reconnaissance. The navy Board usually hired the vessel complete with master and crew, and for a specified time or on an open-ended monthly hire basis.

The Admiralty provided a regular naval officer, usually a lieutenant for the small vessels, to be the commander, with the civilian master serving as the sailing master. During periods of peace, such as the period between the Treaty of Amiens and the commencement of the Napoleonic Wars, the Admiralty returned the vessels to their owners, only to rehire many on the outbreak of war. Some of these vessels had military careers as distinguished as those of the Royal Navy's own vessels, and some vessels qualified for various clasps to the Naval General Service Medal (1847).

Some of these vessels also sailed under a letter of marque, either before (e.g. the Hired armed lugger Duke of York) or after (e.g., the Hired armed ship Kitty) their service with the Royal Navy.