Following the success of the
Lyme and
Unicorn in 1748, the mid-century period saw the simultaneous introduction in 1756 both of sixth-rate frigates of 28 guns (with a main battery of 24 nine-pounder guns, plus four lesser guns mounted on the quarterdeck and/or forecastle) and of fifth-rate frigates of 32 or 36 guns (with a main battery of 26
12-pounder guns, plus six or ten lesser guns mounted on the quarterdeck and/or forecastle). The American Revolution saw the emergence of new fifth rates of 36 or 38 guns which carried a main battery of 18-pounder guns, and were thus known as "heavy" frigates, while the French Revolutionary War brought about the introduction of a few 24-pounder gun armed frigates. In the 1830s, new types emerged with a main battery of 32-pounder guns.
9-pounder armed post ships After 1750, the official Admiralty criteria for defining a frigate required a minimum battery of 28 carriage-mounted guns, including such guns which were mounted on the quarterdeck and forecastle. The Admiralty categorized the smaller sixth rates, of frigate-type construction, but carrying between 20 and 26 guns, as "post ships", but seagoing officers often referred to then as "frigates" even though this was not officially recognised. The post ships, generally of 20 or 24 guns, were in practice the continuation of the earlier sixth rates. The
Napoleonic War era post ships were later re-armed with (many being completed with) 32-pounder carronades instead of nine-pounder guns; after 1817 most of the survivors (except the
Conway class), were re-classified as sloops. •
'''Gibraltar class' 20 guns, 1754–56; built to the lines of the French privateer Tygre'' captured in 1747. •
HMS Gibraltar 1754 – broken up 1773 •
HMS Biddeford 1756 – wrecked 1761 •
HMS Flamborough 1756 – sold 1772 •
HMS Aldborough 1756 – broken up 1772 •
HMS Kennington 1756 – broken up 1774 •
HMS Lively 1756 – captured by France 1778, recaptured 1781, sold 1784 •
HMS Mercury 1756 – wrecked 1777 •
HMS Scarborough 1756 – foundered 1780 •
'''Seaford class' 20 guns, 1754–57; built to the lines of
HM Yacht Royal Caroline'' of 1749. •
HMS Seaford 1754 – sold 1784 •
HMS Rose 1757 – scuttled to block Savannah Bar 1779 •
HMS Glasgow 1757 – accidentally burned 1779 •
'''Squirrel class' 20 guns, 1755–56; like the Seaford
class built to the lines of HMY Royal Caroline''. •
HMS Squirrel 1755 – sold 1783 •
HMS Deal Castle 1756 – lost off Puerto Rico in the Great West Indian Hurricane of 1780 • '''
Bideford class'
, 20 guns, 1756; built to the lines of Le Tygre'', a 26-gun French privateer captured off Ushant on 22 February 1747 • , 20 guns 17561761, wrecked off North Norfolk 1761 •
'''Sphinx class''' 20 guns 1775–81; designed by John Williams •
HMS Sphinx 1775 – broken up 1811 •
HMS Camilla 1776 – hulked 1809, sold 1831 •
HMS Daphne 1776 – taken by France 1795, retaken 1797, sold 1802 •
HMS Galatea 1776 – broken up 1783 •
HMS Ariadne 1776 – sold 1814 •
HMS Vestal 1777 – foundered off Newfoundland 1777 •
HMS Perseus 1776 – converted to bomb vessel 1798, broken up 1805 •
HMS Unicorn 1776 – captured by France 1780, recaptured 1781, broken up 1787 •
HMS Ariel 1777 – taken by French
''l'Amazone'' in 1779 •
HMS Narcissus 1781 – wrecked off New Providence 1796 •
Porcupine class 24 guns, 1777–81; designed by John Williams •
HMS Porcupine 1777 – broken up 1805 •
HMS Pelican 1776 – wrecked in a hurricane near Jamaica 1781 •
HMS Eurydice 1781 – hulked as receiving ship 1814, broken up 1834 •
HMS Hyena 1778 – captured by the French 1793, retaken 1797, reclassed as 20-gun ship 1798, sold 1802 •
HMS Penelope 1778 – cast away or foundered in the West Indies in November 1779 •
HMS Amphitrite 1778 – wrecked off Livorno 1794 •
HMS Crocodile 1781 – wrecked on the Scilly Rocks off Prawle Point 1784 •
HMS Siren 1779 – wrecked near Beachy Head 1781 •
HMS Pandora 1779 – wrecked off the Coast of Queensland, Australia, in 1791 while carrying the surviving mutineers of
HMS Bounty back to England for trial •
HMS Champion 1779 – hulked as receiving ship 1809, sold 1816 •
HMS Myrmidon 22 guns 1781; built to the lines of
Amazone a French privateer captured in 1745 – hulked 1798, broken up 1811 •
HMS Squirrel 24 guns 1785; designed by
Edward Hunt – hulked as a receiving ship 1812, sold 1817 •
'''Banterer class''' 22 guns 1806–07; designed by William Rule •
HMS Banterer 1807 – wrecked in the Saint Laurence Stream 1808 •
HMS Crocodile 1806 – broken up 1816 •
HMS Daphne 1806 – sold 1816; became merchantman and last listed in 1824 •
HMS Cossack 1806 – broken up 1816 •
HMS Cyane 1806 – taken by USS
Constitution 1815 •
HMS Porcupine 1807 – sold 1816; became mercantile
Windsor Castle and was broken up at Mauritius in 1826 •
'''Laurel class''' 22 guns 1806–12; designed by
John Henslow •
HMS Laurel 1806 – taken by France 1808, retaken and renamed
Laurestinus 1810, wrecked in the Bahamas 1813 •
HMS Boreas 1806 – wrecked on the Guernsey coast 1807 •
HMS Comus 1806 – wrecked at Newfoundland 1816 •
HMS Garland 1807 – sold 1817 •
HMS Perseus 1812 – hulked as receiving ship 1816, broken up 1850 •
HMS Volage 1807 – sold 1818 •
'''Hermes class' 20 guns 1811–16; flush-decked
sixth rates based on the lines of the French corvette
Bonne Citoyenne'' (1794) taken in 1796; only the last two of the class were given quarterdecks and forecastles in 1820–21, making them post ships •
HMS Hermes 1811 – grounded and burnt by her crew near Mobile, Alabama, 1814 •
HMS Myrmidon 1813 – broken up 1823 •
HMS Ariadne 1816 – post ship (26 guns) 1820, hulked 1837, sold 1841 •
HMS Valorous 1816 – post ship (26 guns) 1821, broken up 1829 •
'''Cyrus class' flush-decked 20-gun sixth rates 1813–14; the design was based on
HMS Myrmidon of the Hermes'' class above, so can be considered a development of that class. Since none of the class possessed a quarterdeck or forecastle, they were actually not post ships •
HMS Cyrus 1813 – sold 1823 •
HMS Medina 1813 – sold 1832 •
HMS Levant 1813 – captured by USS
Constitution 1815, but was recaptured shortly afterwards; broken up 1820 •
HMS Esk 1813 – sold 1827 •
HMS Carron 1813 – wrecked near Puri, India 1820 •
HMS Tay 1813 – wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico 1816 •
HMS Slaney 1813 – 1830 hulked, broken up 1838 •
HMS Erne 1813 – lost 1819 lost •
HMS Leven 1813 – hulked 1833, broken up 1848 •
HMS Falmouth 1814 – sold 1825 •
HMS Cyrene 1814 – sold 1828 •
HMS Bann 1814 – sold 1829 •
HMS Spey 1814 – sold 1822 •
HMS Lee 1814 – broken up 1822 •
HMS Hind 1814 – sold 1829 •
HMS Larne 1814 – sold 1820 •
'''Conway class''' 26-gun sixth rates 1814–17 (later re-rated 28-gun); designed by William Rule •
HMS Conway 1814 – sold 1825 •
HMS Mersey 1814 – hulked as receiving ship 1831, broken up 1852 •
HMS Eden 1814 – broken up 1833 •
HMS Tamar 1814 – hulked as coal depot 1831, sold 1837 •
HMS Dee 1814 – sold 1819 •
HMS Towey 1814 – broken up 1822 •
HMS Menai 1814 – hulked as receiving ship 1829, target ship 1852, broken up 1853 •
HMS Tyne 1814 – sold 1825 •
HMS Wye 1814 – hulked as convict hospital ship 1834, broken up 1852 •
HMS Tees 1817 – hulked as church ship 1826, broken up 1872
9-pounder armed frigates Although previously rated as 24-gun ships (when their four quarterdeck-mounted three-pounders were not included in the count),
Unicorn and
Lyme were redefined as 28-gun frigates from 1756. The
Lowestoffe and
Coventry-class frigates which followed were virtual copies of them, with slight improvements in design. Further 28-gun sixth rates, similarly armed with a main battery of 24 nine-pounder guns (and with four smaller carriage guns on the quarterdeck) continued to be built to evolving designs until the 1780s. •
'''Lowestoffe class' 28-gun sixth rates 1756; designed by
Thomas Slade based on the
Unicorn'' class of 1748 •
HMS Lowestoffe 1756 – wrecked in the
Saint Lawrence River 1760 •
HMS Tartar 1756 – wrecked at
San Domingo (Haiti) 1797 •
'''Coventry class' 28-gun sixth rates 1757–85; designed by Thomas Slade based on Tartar
of the Lowestoffe
class above, so a further modification of the Unicorn'' class •
HMS Coventry 1757 – taken by the French in the
Bay of Bengal 1783 •
HMS Lizard 1757 – hulked as hospital ship at
Sheerness 1800, sold 1828 •
HMS Liverpool 1758 – wrecked on
Long Island 1778 •
HMS Maidstone 1758 – broken up 1794 •
HMS Active 1758 – taken by the French off
San Domingo 1778 •
HMS Levant 1758 – broken up 1780 •
HMS Cerberus 1758 – abandoned and burnt at
Rhode Island 1778 •
HMS Aquilon 1758 – sold 1776 •
HMS Griffin 1758 – wrecked on the shoals off
Barbuda 1761 •
HMS Argo 1758 – broken up 1776 •
HMS Milford 1759 – sold 1785 •
HMS Guadeloupe 1763 – scuttled at
Yorktown to prevent capture 1781. •
HMS Carysfort 1766 – sold 1813 •
'fir built Coventry class' – due to the nature of the pine wood (fir or pine cannot be bent in tight angles), the design had to be fitted with a square tuck (i.e. flat) stern. •
HMS Boreas 1757 – sold 1770. •
HMS Hussar 1757 – stranded on the south coast of
Cuba and taken by France 1762. •
HMS Shannon 1757 – broken up 1765. •
HMS Trent 1757 – sold 1764 •
HMS Actaeon 1757 – sold 1766 •
'modified Coventry class' slightly modified (8½ inch greater width) revival of the
Coventry design •
HMS Hind 1785 – broken up 1811 • HMS
Laurel – cancelled 1783 •
'''Mermaid class' 28-gun sixth rates 1761–63; design by Thomas Slade, adapted from the lines of the French
Abénakise'', captured 1757 •
HMS Mermaid 1761 – driven ashore and wrecked by a French squadron in
Delaware Bay 1778 •
HMS Hussar 1763 – wrecked at
Hell Gate of the
East River 1780 •
HMS Solebay 1763 – run ashore and burned off
Nevis to avoid capture in 1782 •
'modified Mermaid class' (keel lengthened by 8 5/8-inch) 1773–74 •
HMS Greyhound 1773 – wrecked on the South Sand near
Deal in 1781 •
HMS Triton 1773 – broken up 1796 •
HMS Boreas 1774 – hulked as slop ship at
Sheerness 1797, sold 1802 •
'''Enterprise class''' 28-gun sixth rates 1773–87; 27 ships, designed by
John Williams •
HMS Siren 1773 – wrecked on the coast of
Connecticut 1777 •
HMS Fox 1773 – taken by
USS Hancock 1777, retaken by
HMS Flora a month later, but
then taken by the French
Junon off
Brest in 1778 •
HMS Enterprise 1774 – hulked as receiving ship at the
Tower of London 1791, broken up 1807 •
HMS Surprise 1774 – sold 1783 •
HMS Actaeon 1775 – grounded at
Charleston and burnt to avoid capture on 28 June 1776 •
HMS Proserpine 1777 – wrecked off
Heligoland in 1799 •
HMS Andromeda 1777 – capsized in the Great West Indian Hurricane of 1780 •
HMS Aurora 1777 – sold 1814 •
HMS Medea 1778 – hulked as a hospital ship at
Portsmouth in 1801 and sold 1805 •
HMS Pomona 1778 – renamed
Amphitrite in 1795, broken up 1811 •
HMS Resource 1778 – converted to troopship in 1799, hulked as receiving ship at the Tower of London and renamed
Enterprize in 1803, broken up 1816 •
HMS Sibyl 1779 – renamed
Garland in 1795, lost off Madagascar on 26 July 1798 •
HMS Brilliant 1779 – broken up 1811 •
HMS Crescent 1779 – captured by the French frigates
Gloire (1778) and
Friponne (1780) on 20 June 1781 •
HMS Mercury 1779 – used as floating battery since 1803, converted to troopship in 1810, broken up 1814 •
HMS Pegasus 1779 – converted to troopship in 1800, hulked as receiving ship in 1814, sold 1816 •
HMS Cyclops 1779 – converted to troopship in 1800, hulked as receiving ship at
Portsmouth in 1807, sold 1814 •
HMS Vestal 1779 – converted to troopship in 1800, on lease to Trinity House from 1803 to 1810, hulked as prison ship at
Barbados in 1814, sold 1816 •
HMS Laurel 1779 – driven ashore and disintegrated during the Great West Indian Hurricane of 1780 •
HMS Nemesis 1780 – taken by the French in 1795, retaken in 1796, converted to troopship in 1812, sold 1814 •
HMS Thisbe 1783 – converted to troopship in 1800, sold 1815 •
HMS Rose 1783 – wrecked on Rocky Point,
Jamaica, on 28 June 1794 •
HMS Hussar 1784 – wrecked near
Île Bas on 24 December 1796 •
HMS Dido 1784 – converted to troopship in 1800, hulked as Army prison ship at Portsmouth in 1804, sold 1817 •
HMS Circe 1785 – wrecked near
Yarmouth on 6 November 1803 •
HMS Lapwing 1785 – hulked as salvage ship at Cork in 1810, residential ship at
Pembroke from 1813, broken up 1828 •
HMS Alligator 1787 – hulked as salvage ship at Cork in 1810, sold 1814
12-pounder armed frigates Almost all of the following were of the 32-gun type (armed with 26 12-pounder guns on the upper deck and six smaller guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle); one class (the
Venus class of 1757–58) had 36 guns (with 26 12-pounder guns on the upper deck and 10 smaller guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle) •
'''Venus class''' 36-gun fifth rates 1757–58; designed by Thomas Slade •
HMS Venus 1758 – reclassed as a 32 in 1792, renamed
Heroine in 1809, hulked as convict ship in 1824, sold 1828. •
HMS Pallas 1757 – ran aground on
São Jorge Island and sank 1783 •
HMS Brilliant 1757 – sold 1776 •
'''Southampton class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1757–59; designed by
Thomas Slade •
HMS Southampton 1757 – wrecked in the Bahamas off
Conception Island on 27 November 1812 •
HMS Minerva 1759 – taken by the French frigate
Concorde in 1778, retaken by
HMS Courageux in 1781 •
HMS Vestal 1757 – broken up 1775 •
HMS Diana 1757 – sold 1793 •
'''Richmond class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1757–58 (batch 1), 1762–63 (batch 2); designed by William Bately •
HMS Richmond 1757 – taken by the French in the
Chesapeake in 1781 •
HMS Juno 1757 – abandoned and burnt at
Rhode Island to prevent capture in 1778 •
HMS Thames 1758 – taken by the French frigate
Carmagnole (1793) near Gibraltar in 1793, retaken by
HMS Santa Margarita in 1796, broken up 1803 •
HMS Lark 1762 – abandoned and burnt at Rhode Island together with HMS
Juno •
HMS Boston 1762 – broken up 1811 •
HMS Jason 1763 – sold 1785 •
'''Alarm class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1758–66; designed by Thomas Slade •
HMS Alarm 1758 – broken up 1812 •
HMS Eolus (or
Aeolus) 1758 – hulked as receiving ship at
Sheerness in 1796, renamed
Guernsey in 1800, broken up 1801 •
HMS Stag 1758 – broken up 1783 •
HMS Pearl 1762 – hulked as a slop ship at
Portsmouth in 1803, renamed Prothee in 1825, sold 1832 •
HMS Glory 1763 – renamed
Apollo in 1774, broken up 1786 •
HMS Emerald 1762 – broken up 1793. (According to Rif Winfield – British Warships in The Age of Sail 1714– 1792. This is a "Niger Class" ship) •
HMS Aurora 1766 – lost with all hands on her way to the West Indies in 1769 •
'''Niger class' 32-gun fifth rates 1759–64; Thomas Slade design, "very similar" to the Alarm'' class above •
HMS Niger 1759 – converted to troopship in 1799, reclassed as a 28-gun sixth rate in 1804, sold 1814 •
HMS Montreal 1761 – taken by the French off
Málaga on 29 April 1779 •
HMS Quebec 1760 – caught fire and blew up while in action with the French frigate
Surveillante (1778) on 5 October 1779 •
HMS Winchelsea 1764 – converted to troopship in 1800, mooring hulk at Sheerness in 1803, sold 1814 •
HMS Tweed 32-gun fifth rate 1759; one off design by Sir Thomas Slade, to the lengthened lines of the
Tartar (28 guns) of
Lowestoffe class (nine-pounder armed) above and built to lighter scantlings according to the French practice, sold 1776 •
'''Lowestoffe class' 32-gun fifth rates 1761–74; Thomas Slade design, like Mermaid
class (nine-pounder armed) above, adapted from the French Frigate Abénakise'', captured in 1757 •
HMS Lowestoffe 32-gun fifth rate 1761 – wrecked off
Ingua on 10 August 1801 •
HMS Orpheus 1773 – abandoned and burnt at
Rhode Island to prevent capture together with HMS
Lark and
Juno on 5 August 1778 •
HMS Diamond 1774 – sold 1784 •
'''Amazon (Thetis) class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1773–87; 18 ships, designed by John Williams. •
HMS Thetis 1773 – ran onto a rock and sank near
Saint Lucia on 12 May 1781. •
HMS Amazon 1773 – broken up 1794 •
HMS Ambuscade 1773 – taken by the French corvette
Bayonnaise in 1798, retaken by
HMS Victory in 1803 – broken up 1810 •
HMS Cleopatra 1779 – broken up 1814 •
HMS Amphion 1780 – accidentally caught fire and blew up at
Portsmouth on 22 September 1796 •
HMS Orpheus 1780 – wrecked on a coral reef in the West Indies on 23 January 1807 •
HMS Juno 1780 – broken up 1811 •
HMS Success 1781 – taken by the French in the Mediterranean on 13 February 1801, retaken seven months later by
HMS Pomone on 2 September, converted to troopship in 1812, hulked as prison ship at
Halifax in 1813, broken up 1820 •
HMS Iphigenia 1780 – hulked as prison hospital ship at
Plymouth in 1798, converted to troopship in 1801, accidentally burnt in the same year •
HMS Andromache 1781 – broken up 1811 •
HMS Syren (or
Siren) 1782 – hulked as lazaretto at
Pembroke in 1805, broken up 1822 •
HMS Iris 1783 – on lease to
Trinity House between 1803 and 1805, hulked as receiving ship at
Yarmouth in 1811, presented to
the Marine Society as a training ship, broken up 1833 •
HMS Greyhound 1783 – wrecked in the
Philippines on 4 October 1808 •
HMS Meleager 1785 – wrecked on Triangle Bank in the
Gulf of Mexico on 9 June 1801 •
HMS Castor 1785 – sold 1819 •
HMS Solebay 1785 – on lease to Trinity House from 1803 to 1806, wrecked in action with a Senegalese fort on 11 June 1809 •
HMS Terpsichore 1785 – hulked as receiving ship at
Chatham in 1811, broken up 1813 •
HMS Blonde 1787 – hulked for stationary service at
Portsmouth in 1803, sold 1805 •
'''Active class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1779–84; designed by
Edward Hunt •
HMS Active 1780 – wrecked in the
Saint Lawrence River on 15 July 1796 •
HMS Daedalus 1780 – on lease to Trinity House from 1803 to 1806, broken up 1811 •
HMS Mermaid 1784 – converted to troopship in 1811, broken up 1815 •
HMS Cerberus 1779 – wrecked near
Bermuda on 30 April 1783 •
HMS Fox 1780 – converted to troopship in 1812, broken up 1816 •
HMS Astraea (or
Astrea) 1781 – fitted as troopship between 1800 and 1805, wrecked on rocks off
Anegada on 24 May 1808 •
HMS Ceres 1781 – hulked as receiving ship at
Sheerness in 1803, transferred to
Chatham as harbour flagship in 1812, converted into a victualling depot in 1816 and broken up 1830 •
HMS Quebec 1781 – temporarily hulked at
Woolwich between 1803 and 1805, hulked as receiving ship at Sheerness in 1813, broken up 1816 •
'''Andromeda or Hermione class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1782–86; designed by Edward Hunt •
HMS Andromeda 1784 – broken up 1811 •
HMS Hermione 1782 – seized by mutineers on 22 September 1797, given to the Spanish garrison at
La Guaira, cut out of the harbour and retaken on 25 October 1799, renamed
Retaliation shortly after, renamed Retribution in 1800, presented to Trinity House in 1803 •
HMS Druid 1783 – fitted as troopship from 1798 to 1805, broken up 1813 •
HMS Penelope 1783 – broken up 1797 •
HMS Aquilon 1786 – broken up 1816 •
HMS Blanche 1786 – wrecked in the entrance to the
Texel •
HMS Heroine 32-gun fifth rate 1783; purchased on the stocks from Adams of Bucklers Hard in 1782 – converted to troopship in 1800, hulked 1803 •
'''Maidstone class' 32-gun fifth rates 1795–96; designed by John Henslow, fir-built version of the
Cerberus (or Alcmene'') class of 18-pounder frigates of 1794 •
HMS Maidstone 1795 – broken up 1810 •
HMS Shannon 1796 – sold 1802 •
HMS Triton 32-gun fifth rate 1796; experimental "Admiralty" design by rear-admiral
James Gambier, the Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty; fir-built, the ship was originally intended to carry 18-pounders but was considered too weak for the armament – hulked as receiving ship at Woolwich in 1803, transferred to Plymouth in 1810, sold 1814 •
'''Thames class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1804–06; design modified from William Bately's
Richmond class of 1757 •
HMS Circe 1804 – sold 1814 •
HMS Pallas 1804 – wrecked in the
Firth of Forth on 18 December 1810 •
HMS Thames 1805 – converted to troopship in 1814, broken up 1816 •
HMS Jason 1804 – broken up 1815 •
HMS Hebe 1804 – sold 1813 •
HMS Minerva 1805 – broken up 1816 •
HMS Alexandria 1806 – hulked as receiving ship at
Sheerness in 1817, broken up 1818 • HMS
Medea – cancelled 1804
18-pounder armed frigates In general, the following were either 36-gun type (armed with 26 18-pounder guns on the upper deck and 10 smaller guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle) or 38-gun type (with 28 18-pounder guns on the upper deck and 10 smaller guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle); however, one class of smaller ships had just 32 guns (with 26 18-pounder guns on the upper deck and just six smaller guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle) • '
Flora
class' 36-gun fifth rates 1780, designed by
John Williams •
HMS Flora 1780 – wrecked and destroyed on the Dutch coast on 19 January 1808 •
HMS Thalia 1782 – broken up 1814 •
HMS Crescent 1784 – wrecked on the Coast of
Jutland on 6 December 1808 •
HMS Romulus 1785 – converted to troopship in 1799, hulked as hospital ship at
Bermuda in 1813, broken up 1816 •
'''Minerva class''' 38-gun fifth rates 1780–82, designed by
Edward Hunt •
HMS Minerva 1780 – broken up 1803 •
HMS Arethusa 1781 – broken up 1814 •
HMS Phaeton 1782 – Sold 1827 •
HMS Latona 38-gun fifth rate 1781, designed by John Williams – converted to troopship 1810, hulked as receiving ship at
Leith 1813, sold 1816 •
HMS Thetis 38-Gun fifth rate 1782, designed by Edward Hunt, modified from the
Minerva class above – used as troopship between 1800 and 1805, sold 1814 •
'''Perseverance class''' 36-gun fifth rates 1781–83, designed by Edward Hunt •
HMS Perseverance 1781 – hulked as receiving ship circa 1806, sold 1823 •
HMS Phoenix 1783 – wrecked near
Smyrna on 20 February 1816 •
HMS Inconstant 1783 – used as troopship between 1798 and 1806, broken up 1817 •
HMS Leda 1783 – capsized in a squall and foundered off
Madeira 11 December 1795 •
HMS Melampus 36-gun fifth rate 1785, designed by Edward Hunt – sold to the Dutch Navy in 1815 •
HMS Beaulieu 40-gun fifth rate 1791 – purchased on the stocks in June 1790 from Adams of Bucklers Hard – broken up 1806 •
'''Pallas class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1793–94; designed by
John Henslow •
HMS Pallas 1793 – wrecked on Mount Batten Point, Plymouth on 4 April 1798 •
HMS Stag 1794 – wrecked in
Vigo Bay, Spain on 6 September 1800 •
HMS Unicorn 1794 – broken up 1815 •
'''Cerberus (or Alcmene) class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1794, designed by
John Henslow •
HMS Cerberus 1794 – sold 1814 •
HMS Alcmene 1794 – wrecked off
Nantes on 29 April 1809. •
HMS Galatea 1794 – broken up 1809 •
HMS Lively 1794 – wrecked near Rota Point,
Cádiz on 12 April 1798 •
'''Artois class''' 38-gun fifth rates 1794–97; designed by
John Henslow •
HMS Artois 1794 – wrecked near
La Rochelle on 31 July 1797 •
HMS Diana 1794 – sold to the Dutch Navy in 1815 •
HMS Apollo 1794 – wrecked on the Haak Sands off the coast of Holland on 7 January 1799 •
HMS Diamond 1794 – broken up 1812 •
HMS Jason 1794 – wrecked near
Brest on 13 October 1798 •
HMS Seahorse 1794 – broken up 1819 •
HMS Ethalion 1797 – wrecked on rocks off
Penmarch, Brittany, on 19 December 1799 •
'fir-built Artois class' with alterations necessary for fir wood, notably the flat, square tuck stern •
HMS Clyde (I) 1796 – taken to pieces for rebuilding in 1805 •
HMS Tamar (or
Tamer) 1796 – broken up 1810 •
HMS Clyde (II) 1806 – rebuilt from the previous ship of that name, laid up in 1810, sold 1814 •
'''Phoebe class''' 36-gun fifth rates 1795–1800, lengthened version of William Hunt's
Perseverance class of 1780 •
HMS Phoebe 1795 – hulked as receiving ship at
Plymouth 1826, sold 1841 •
HMS Dryad 1795 – hulked as receiving ship at
Portsmouth 1838, broken up 1860 •
HMS Caroline 1795 – hulked as salvage vessel at Portsmouth 1813, broken up 1815 •
HMS Doris 1795 – wrecked in
Quiberon Bay on 21 January 1805 •
HMS Fortunee 1800 – sold 1818 •
'''Amazon class''' 36-gun fifth rates 1795–96, designed by
William Rule •
HMS Amazon 1795 – hit a sandbank and was abandoned three hours later during the
action against the French 74-gun ship ''Droits de l'Homme'' in
Audierne Bay,
Brittany on 14 January 1797 •
HMS Emerald 1795 – hulked as receiving ship at Portsmouth in 1822, broken up 1836 •
'fir-built Amazon class' with alterations necessary for fir wood, notably the flat, square tuck stern •
HMS Trent 1796 – hospital ship laid up at
Cork in 1803, hulked 1815, broken up 1823 • 1796 – in
Ordinary at
Plymouth in 1803 until sold for breaking up in 1814 •
HMS Naiad 38-gun fifth rate 1797, designed by William Rule – hulked as a coal depot at
Callao, Peru in 1847, sold 1866 •
HMS Acasta 40-gun fifth rate 1797, designed by William Rule – broken up 1821 •
HMS Boadicea 38-gun fifth rate 1797, built to the lines of the French
Impérieuse, taken in 1793 – broken up 1858 •
HMS Sirius 36-gun fifth rate 1797, built to the lines of the French
Minerve, taken in 1794 and renamed
San Fiorenzo – grounded at Mauritius and destroyed to prevent capture 1810 •
HMS Hydra 38-gun fifth rate 1797; built to the lines of the French
Melpomène, captured in 1794, a sister ship to
Minerve and
Impérieuse above – converted to troopship 1813, sold 1820 •
'''Amazon class''' 38-gun fifth rates 1799, designed by William Rule •
HMS Amazon 1799 – broken up 1817 •
HMS Hussar 1799 – wrecked in the Bay of Biscay in February 1804 •
HMS Active 38-gun fifth rate 1799; designed by
John Henslow – hulked as receiving ship 1825, renamed
Argo 1833, broken up 1860. •
'''Leda class' 38-gun fifth rates 1800–19, built to the lines of the French
Hébé'' of 1782 •
HMS Leda 1800 – wrecked at the mouth of
Milford Haven on 31 January 1808 •
HMS Pomone 1805 – wrecked on
the Needles on 14 October 1811 •
HMS Shannon 1806 – hulked as receiving ship at
Sheerness in 1831, renamed
Saint Lawrence in 1844, broken up 1859 •
HMS Leonidas 1807 – hulked as powder hulk at Sheerness in 1872, sold 1894 •
HMS Briton 1812 – hulked as convict ship at
Portsmouth in 1841, broken up 1860 •
HMS Surprise 1812 – hulked as convict ship at
Cork in 1822, sold 1837 •
HMS Tenedos 1812 – hulked as convict ship at
Bermuda in 1843, converted to accommodation ship in 1863, broken up 1875 •
HMS Lacedemonian 1812 – broken up 1822 •
HMS Lively 1813 – hulked as receiving ship 1831, sold 1863 •
HMS Diamond 1816 – accidentally burnt at Portsmouth on 18 April 1827 •
HMS Amphitrite 1816 –
razeed to a 26-gun
corvette, transferred to the Coast Guard in 1857 •
HMS Trincomalee 1817 – Teak built, cut down to a 26-gun corvette in 1847, hulked as training ship for volunteers at
Sunderland in 1861, sold 1897 to Wheatley Cobb at
Falmouth, became training ship
Foudroyant, still afloat as museum ship under her original name at
Hartlepool •
HMS Thetis 1817 – wrecked off
Cape Frio, Brazil, on 5 December 1830 •
HMS Arethusa 1817 – hulked as lazaretto at
Liverpool in 1836, renamed
Bacchus in 1844, transferred to
Plymouth in 1850, and transformed to coal depot in 1852, sold for breaking in 1883 •
HMS Blanche 1819 – hulked as receiving ship at Portsmouth in 1833, sold for breaking in 1865 •
HMS Fisgard 1819 – hulked as harbour flagship at
Woolwich in 1847, broken up 1879 • '
modified Leda
class' 46-gun fifth rates 1820–30 •
HMS Venus 1820 – hulked and lent to the Marine Society in 1848, broken up 1865 •
HMS Melampus 1820 – transferred to the Coastguard at
Southampton in 1857, returned to the Navy at Portsmouth in 1866, used as an ordnance store for the War Office until 1891, sold 1906 •
HMS Minerva 1820 – broken up 1895 •
HMS Latona 1821 – hulked as mooring vessel at
Sheerness in 1868, powder depot at Portsmouth in 1872, broken up 1875 •
HMS Nereus 1821 – hulked as coal depot at
Valparaiso in 1843, sold 1879 •
HMS Diana 1822 – hulked as receiving ship at Sheerness in 1868, broken up 1874 •
HMS Hebe 1826 – hulked as receiving ship at Woolwich in 1839, transferred to Sheerness for breaking in 1872 •
HMS Hamadryad 1823 – hulked as hospital ship at
Cardiff in 1866, sold 1905 •
HMS Amazon 1821 – cut down to a 26-gun corvette in 1845, sold 1863 •
HMS Aeolus (or
Eolus) 1825 – hulked as stores depot at Sheerness in 1846, transferred to
Portsmouth as accommodation ship in 1855, transformed into a lazaretto in 1761, broken up 1886 •
HMS Thisbe 1824 – hulked as floating church at
Cardiff 1863, sold 1892 •
HMS Cerberus 1827 – broken up 1866 •
HMS Circe 1827 – hulked as accommodation ship 1866, swimming bath 1885, renamed
Impregnable IV, sold for breaking in 1922 •
HMS Clyde 1827 – hulked as RNR training ship at
Aberdeen in 1870, sold 1904 •
HMS Thames 1823 – hulked as convict ship at
Deptford in 1841, transferred to
Bermuda in 1844, sunk in 1863, wreck subsequently sold for breaking •
HMS Fox 1829 – converted to screw propulsion in 1856, broken up 1882 •
HMS Unicorn 1824 – never fitted for sea, hulked as training ship for the RNR at
Dundee in 1860 and still afloat there as museum ship •
HMS Daedalus 1826 – cut down to a corvette in 1844, hulked as training ship for the RNR at
Bristol in 1861, sold for breaking in 1911 •
HMS Proserpine 1830 – sold 1864 •
HMS Mermaid 1825 – hulked as Army powder ship at
Purfleet in 1858, returned to the Navy and used as a powder depot at
Dublin in 1863, bruken up 1875 •
HMS Mercury 1826 – hulked as coal depot at
Woolwich in 1862, transferred to
Sheerness in 1873, sold 1906 •
HMS Penelope 1829 – converted to paddle frigate in 1843, sold 1864 •
HMS Thalia 1830 – hulked as Roman Catholic chapel ship at
Portsmouth in 1855, broken up 1867 •
'''Cydnus class' 38-gun fifth rates, eight pine-built ships (essentially identical to the Leda'' class, with the exception of a flat stern, necessary for "fir-built" ships), 1813 •
HMS Cydnus 1813 – broken up 1816 •
HMS Eurotas 1813 – broken up 1817 •
HMS Niger 1813 – broken up 1820 •
HMS Meander 1813 – broken up 1817 •
HMS Pactolus 1813 – broken up 1818 •
HMS Tiber 1813 – broken up 1820 •
HMS Araxes 1813 – broken up 1817 •
HMS Tanais 1813 – broken up 1819 • HMS
Nemesis – altered to
Seringapatam class • HMS
Statira – altered to
Seringapatam class • HMS
Jason – altered to
Seringapatam class • HMS
Druid – altered to
Seringapatam class • HMS
Pegasus – cancelled 1831 •
'''Penelope class''' 36-gun fifth rates 1798–1800, designed by
John Henslow •
HMS Penelope 1798 – troopship in 1814, wrecked in the
Saint Lawrence River in 1815 •
HMS Amethyst 1799 – wrecked and subsequently broken up 1811 •
HMS Jason 1800 – wrecked in 1801 •
HMS Lavinia 44-gun fifth rate 1806, designed by
Jean-Louis Barrallier – hulked as lazaretto in
Liverpool in 1836, coal depot at
Plymouth in 1852, sunk in
Plymouth Sound after collision with
HAPAG Ship
Cimbria •
'''Amphion class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1798–1809, designed by
William Rule. •
HMS Amphion 1798 – breakwater 1820 •
HMS Aeolus 1801 – broken up 1817 •
HMS Medusa 1801 – hulked as hospital ship at
Plymouth in 1813, broken up 1816 •
HMS Proserpine 1807 – taken by the French
Pénélope and
Pauline off
Toulon on 28 February 1809 •
HMS Nereus 1809 – broken up 1817 •
'''Narcissus class''' 32-gun fifth rates 1801–1808, designed by John Henslow •
HMS Narcissus 1801 – hulked as convict ship at
Woolwich in 1823, sold 1837 •
HMS Tartar 1801 – wrecked in the
Baltic Sea on 18 August 1811 •
HMS Cornelia 1808 – broken up 1814 • HMS
Siren – cancelled 1806 • HMS
Doris – cancelled 1806 •
'''Apollo class''', 27 ships, 36-gun fifth rates 1799–1819, designed by William Rule •
HMS Apollo 1799 – wrecked near
Cabo Mondego (Portugal) in April 1804 •
HMS Blanche 1800 – taken by the French 40-gun 18-pounder Frigate
Topaze in July 1805 •
HMS Euryalus 1803 – paid off in March 1825 •
HMS Semiramis 1808 – guardship at Portsmouth in 1821, cut down to 24-gun corvette in 1827, broken up in November 1844 •
HMS Owen Glendower 1808 – convict ship at Gibraltar in October 1842, receiving ship athere in 1880, sold in 1884 •
HMS Curacoa 1809 – cut down to 24-gun corvette in 1831, broken up in March 1849 •
HMS Saldanha 1809 – wrecked and sank with all hands off
Lough Swilly on 4 December 1811 •
HMS Malacca 1809 – paid off in June 1815, broken up in March 1816 •
HMS Orpheus 1809 – laid up at Chatham in September 1816, broken up in August 1819 •
HMS Theban 1809 – broken up in May 1817 •
HMS Leda 1809 – sold in April 1817 •
HMS Manilla 1809 – wrecked on the Haak Sands off the
Texel at
Callantsoog on 28 January 1812 •
HMS Belvidera 1809 – store depot at Portsmouth in 1846, receiving ship in 1852, sold in July 1906 •
HMS Hotspur 1810 – in ordinary at Portsmouth in November 1815, broken up in January 1821 •
HMS Astraea 1810 – broken up in 1851 •
HMS Galatea 1810 – receiving ship and coal depot on Jamaica in 1839, broken up in 1849 •
HMS Havannah 1811 – cut down to 24-gun corvette in 1845, training ship at Cardiff, sold for breaking in 1905 •
HMS Maidstone 1811 – receiving ship at Portsmouth in August 1832, coal depot there in 1838, broken up in January 1867 •
HMS Stag 1812 – laid up at Plymouth in November 1814, broken up in September 1821 •
HMS Magicienne 1812 – broken up in March 1845 •
HMS Barrosa 1812 – laid up in September 1815, receiving ship and ordnance depot at Portsmouth in 1823, sold in 1841 •
HMS Dartmouth 1813 – paid off in March 1830, broken up in November 1854 •
HMS Creole 1813 – harbour service at Chatham in 1833, broken up in August of the same year •
HMS Tartar 1814 – receiving ship at Sheerness in March 1830, broken up in September 1859 •
HMS Brilliant 1814 – training ship in 1860, renamed
Briton in 1889, sold for breaking in 1908 •
HMS Pallas 1816 – coal depot at Plymouth in November 1836, sold in January 1862 •
HMS Blonde 1819 – completed to a new 46-gun design •
'''Aigle class''' 36-gun fifth rates, 1801, designed by John Henslow •
HMS Aigle 1801 •
HMS Resistance 1801 •
HMS Ethalion 36-gun fifth rate 1802 •
'''Lively class''' 38-gun fifth rates 1804–13, designed by William Rule •
HMS Lively 1804 •
HMS Resistance 1805 •
HMS Apollo 1805 •
HMS Hussar 1807 •
HMS Statira 1807 •
HMS Horatio 1807 •
HMS Spartan 1806 •
HMS Undaunted 1807 •
HMS Menelaus 1810 •
HMS Nisus 1810 •
HMS Macedonian 1810 •
HMS Crescent 1810 •
HMS Bacchante 1811 •
HMS Nymphe 1812 •
HMS Sirius 1813 •
HMS Laurel 1813 •
HMS Forte 38-gun fifth rate 1814, built to the Lines of the French
Révolutionnaire, captured in 1794 – broken up 1844 •
'''Perseverance class''' 36-gun fifth rates 1803–11 (a revival of the class of 1781–83 – see above) •
HMS Tribune 1803 – cut down to a 24-gun corvette in 1833, lost near
Tarragona on 28 November 1839 •
HMS Shannon 1803 – run ashore near
La Hogue and burnt to avoid capture on 10 December 1803 •
HMS Meleager 1806 – wrecked on Bare Bush Key east of
Jamaica on 30 July 1808 •
HMS Iphigenia 1806 – presented to
the Marine Society as training ship in 1833, broken up 1851 •
HMS Orlando 1811 – hulked as hospital ship at
Trincomalee in 1819, sold 1824 • HMS
Lowestoffe – cancelled 1805 •
'teak-built Perseverance class' – same as above but built from teak wood in
Bombay dockyard •
HMS Salsette 1805 – hulked as lazaretto at
Pembroke in 1831, receiving ship at
Woolwich in 1835, broken up 1874 •
HMS Doris 1807 – sold at
Valparaiso 1829 •
HMS Hyperion 32-gun fifth rate 1807, designed by John Henslow on the basis of the French
Magicienne of 1778 •
HMS Bucephalus 32-gun fifth rate 1808, designed by William Rule •
HMS Pyramus 36-gun fifth rate 1810, built to the lines of the French
Belle Poule of 1765 • Purchased ships of 1804–05 (all teak-built in India) •
HMS Sir Edward Hughes 1804 •
HMS Duncan 1805 •
HMS Howe 1805 •
'''Scamander class''' 36-gun fifth rates, 10 pine-built ships, 1813–14 •
HMS Eridanus 1813 •
HMS Orontes 1813 •
HMS Scamander 1813 •
HMS Tagus 1813 •
HMS Ister 1813 •
HMS Tigris 1813 •
HMS Euphrates 1813 •
HMS Hebrus 1813 •
HMS Granicus 1813 •
HMS Alpheus 1814 •
'''Seringapatam class''' 46-gun fifth rates, 1819–40 •
HMS Seringapatam 1819 •
HMS Madagascar 1822 •
HMS Druid 1825 •
HMS Nemesis 1826 •
HMS Africaine 1827 •
HMS Leda 1828 •
HMS Hotspur 1828 •
HMS Eurotas 1829 •
HMS Andromeda 1829 •
HMS Seahorse 1830 •
HMS Stag 1830 •
HMS Forth 1833 •
HMS Maeander 1840 • HMS
Euphrates – cancelled 1831 • HMS
Orpheus – cancelled 1831 • HMS
Severn – cancelled 1831 • HMS
Tiber – cancelled 1831 • HMS
Manilla – cancelled 1831 • HMS
Spartan – cancelled 1831 • HMS
Theban – cancelled 1831 • HMS
Jason – cancelled 1831 • HMS
Statira – cancelled 1832 • HMS
Tigris – cancelled 1832 • HMS
Inconstant – cancelled 1832 • HMS
Pique – cancelled 1832
24-pounder armed frigates •
1794 razees 44-gun (converted from 64-gun
ships of the line in 1794) •
HMS Indefatigable converted 1794 •
HMS Anson converted 1794 •
HMS Magnanime converted 1794 •
HMS Endymion 40 guns 1797; later classed as 50-gun frigate; built to the lines of the French
Pomone of 1785 (captured 1794) – broken up 1868 •
'''Endymion class''' 40-gun (later classed as 50-gun) "fir-built" (actually pitch pine-built) fifth rates 1813–14 •
HMS Severn 1813 – sold 1825 •
HMS Liffey 1813 – broken up 1827 •
HMS Liverpool 1814 – sold 1822 •
HMS Glasgow 1814 – broken up 1828 •
HMS Forth 1814 – broken up 1819 •
HMS Cambrian 40-gun fifth rate 1797; designed by John Henslow – wrecked in the Mediterranean 1828 •
HMS Leander 50-gun (later 60-gun) fourth rate 1813; designed by William Rule – broken up 1830 •
HMS Newcastle 50-gun (later 60-gun) fourth rate 1813; design by Jean-Louis Barrallier – hulked 1824, no records after 1827 •
HMS Isis 58-gun fourth rate 1819; designed by William Rule – hulked 1861, sold 1867 •
HMS Java 50-gun fourth rate 1815; designed by the
"Surveyors of the Navy" – hulked 1861, broken up 1862 •
'''Southampton class' 58-gun fourth rates 1820–03; modified from the design of the Java'' above •
HMS Southampton 1820 – presented to the Coastguard 1857, sold 1912 •
HMS Portland 1822 – hulked as floating depot 1846, sold 1862 •
HMS Lancaster 1823 – hulked as hospital ship 1847, sold 1864 •
HMS Winchester 1822 – hulked as training ship and renamed
Conway 1862, renamed
Mount Edgcumbe, sold 1921 •
HMS Chichester 1843 – hulked and presented to the National Refuge Society, sold 1889 •
HMS Worcester 1843 – hulked as training ship 1862, sold for breaking 1885 • HMS
Liverpool – cancelled 1829 • HMS
Jamaica – cancelled 1829 •
HMS President 52-gun (later 60-gun) fourth rate 1829; built to the lines of the USS President (captured 1814) – hulked as Royal Navy Reserve training ship 1861, renamed
Old President and then sold 1903
32-pounder armed frigates • razees 56-gun (converted from 74-gun ships of the line) •
HMS Goliath converted 1813 •
HMS Saturn converted 1813 •
HMS Majestic converted 1813 •
HMS Elephant converted 1817–18 •
HMS Excellent conversion began 1825 •
HMS Castor 36-gun fifth rate 1832 •
HMS Vernon 50-gun fourth rate 1832 •
'''Pique class''' 36-gun fifth rates 1834–41 •
HMS Pique 1834 •
HMS Cambrian 1841 •
HMS Flora 1844 •
HMS Active 1845 •
HMS Sybille 1847 • HMS
Constance – re-ordered to different design • HMS
Chesapeake – re-ordered as steam/screw frigate •
HMS Inconstant 36-gun fifth rate 1836 •
HMS Thetis 36-gun fifth rate 1846 •
HMS Nankin 50-gun fourth rate 1850 The following classes were launched as sailing frigates but converted to steam when still active in c. 1860. •
'''Raleigh class''' 50-gun fourth rates 1845 •
HMS Raleigh 1845 (wrecked 1857) •
HMS Severn (later converted to screw) •
'''Constance class''' 50-gun fourth rates 1846 •
HMS Constance 1846 (later converted to screw) •
HMS Arethusa 1849 (later converted to screw) •
HMS Octavia 1849 (later converted to screw) •
HMS Sutlej 1855 (later converted to screw) • HMS
Liffey – re-ordered as steam/screw frigate •
'''Leander class''' 50-gun fourth rates 1848 •
HMS Leander 1848 (later converted to screw) • HMS
Shannon – re-ordered as steam/screw frigate •
HMS Phaeton 50-gun fourth rate 1848 (later converted to screw) •
'''Indefatigable class''' 50-gun fourth rates 1848 •
HMS Indefatigable 1848 (retired 1857, later a training ship) •
HMS Phoebe 1854 (later converted to screw) The following three classes were begun as sailing frigates, but all were completed as screw-driven steam frigates. •
'''Emerald class''' 50-gun fourth rates, ordered 1848. •
'''San Fiorenzo class''' 50-gun fourth rates, ordered 1848. •
'''Narcissus class''' 50-gun fourth rates, ordered 1848. ==19th century steam frigates==