CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

High Speed Jet

high-speed craft launched in 1990

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ5635928 ↗
Source-derived summary

High Speed Jet is a 74 m (243 ft) ocean-going catamaran built in 1990 by Incat for Hoverspeed and currently owned by Seajets. In 1990, as Hoverspeed Great Britain, she took the Hales Trophy for the fastest eastbound transatlantic journey, making the run, without passengers, in three days, seven hours and fifty-four minutes, averaging 36.6 knots (67.8 km/h; 42.1 mph).

History

The ship's previous names were: Hoverspeed Great Britain (1990–2004), Emeraude GB (2004–2005), and Speedrunner 1 (2005–2008, when she sailed the Mediterranean Sea for Sea Containers and Aegean Speed Lines.) Sea Runner (2008–2011) and Cosmos Jet (2011–2015, when she first began operating for Seajets).

She entered service on the Portsmouth to Cherbourg route on 12 July 1990 operating three round trips per day. HSC Hoverspeed Great Britain was replaced on the cross-channel route by MDV 1200 class ferries Superseacat One and Superseacat Two.

Specifications

Power is supplied by four Ruston 16RK270 V-16 marine diesel engines each with a 3600 kW (4825 hp) at 100% maximum continuous rating (MCR).

The 16RK270 engine has 16 cylinders, a 270 mm bore and a 305mm stroke, for a per cylinder displacement of 17.46L and a total displacement of 279.408L. The vessel in trials attained over 48 knots (89 km/h; 55 mph) on a 5-minute run; at full displacement she showed 45.20 knots (83.71 km/h; 52.02 mph) maximum and 44.08 knots (81.64 km/h; 50.73 mph) for a two-way average.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “High Speed Jet” as high-speed craft launched in 1990. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around High, Speed and high-speed.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1990, 2004, 2005, 2008—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with High, Speed and high-speed providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “High Speed Jet”, the useful work is to connect “high-speed craft launched in 1990” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5635928. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1990, 2004, 2005 and 2008.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “High Speed Jet”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow High Speed Jet primary sources, High Speed Jet archive and High research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “High Speed Jet”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “High Speed Jet” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.