High-speed launch number 102 was built at the Hythe in Kent in 1936 for the Royal Air Force. She is the only surviving example of the launches used by the RAF in World War II to rescue a man who had to ditch over the Channel. During the Battle of Britain HSL 102 rescued 38 aircrew in two months including the crews of two German bombers. Transferred to the Royal Navy in 1943 she was used to tow gunnery targets and was subsequently sold and used as a private house boat. She was purchased by a boat preservation trust in 1993 and restored to her World War II condition.
HSL 102 is currently berthed at the Portsmouth historic dockyard
