Jun 25, 2011 First rate Ship-of-the-line, Gunnery Ship
At the time of her launch, HMS Windsor Castle was the largest ship afloat in the whole world. [Source ILN September 18th 1852
She was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard as HMS Victoria in 1844, to the design of HMS Queen. She was intended to carry 110 guns, but work was suspended. Read More..
Jun 25, 2011 Sixth rate
Sixth rate.
Sixth-rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 18 and 28 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without. Sixth-rate ships typically had a crew of about 150 and measured between 450 and 550 tons. Usually sixth-rates were small frigates. Some larger ship-rigged, flush-decked vessels, were rated, which meant they were large enough to rate a Post-Captain in command, instead of a Lieutenant or Commander. Read More..
Jun 25, 2011 Fifth rate
Fifth rate Royal Navy Ship
In the Royal Navy, a fifth-rate was a sailing frigate mounting 32 to 40 guns on a single deck.
Fifth-rate ships acted as fast scouts or independent cruisers and included a variety of gun arrangements from 32 12 pounders to 36, 38 or even 40 18 pound guns. Tonnage ranged from 700 to 1450 tons, with crews of 250 to 300 men.
Configuations:-
Leda Class Frigate 38 guns
32 guns single decker
36 guns single decker
38 guns single decker
Jun 25, 2011 Fourth
Fourth rate
The Royal Navy fourth-rate was, during the 18th century, a ship of the line mounting 50-60 guns. Though used largely during the Seven Years’ War, by the time of the American Revolution and especially the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the fourth rate was considered too weak to stand in the line of battle. The few that remained were relegated to convoy escort, or as flagships on far-flung stations; a number were also converted to troopships, armed only “en flûte”. Read More..
Jun 25, 2011 Third rate Ship-of-the-line
Third rate Ship-of-the-line.
A Royal Navy, third-rate was a ship of the line mounting 64 to 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker).
When the rating system was first established, in the 1670s, the third rate was defined as 70 guns, with second-rates having 90 guns, and fourth-rates 54-60 guns. As time passed, and different ships were built with greater or fewer numbers of guns, the term was expanded to include the whole range from 64 to 80. Read More..
Jun 25, 2011 Second rate Ship-of-the-line
Second rate ship-of-the-line
In the Royal Navy, a second-rate was a ship of the line mounting 90 to 98 guns, typically built with three gun decks.
The second-rate three-decker was an essentially British type of ship, it was not built by other European navies to any great degree. It was unhandy even for a three-decker, and it terms of sheer firepower it was matched or more than matched by the 80 and 74-gun two-deckers third-rate the French and Spanish navies used in its stead. Read More..
Jun 25, 2011 First rate Ship-of-the-line
First rate ship 1794.
“First-raters” was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its most powerful and largest ships of the line. These warships mounted 100 guns or more, typically on three gundecks and carried over 850 crew with a displacement in excess of 2,000 tons.
In the original rating system from the 1670s, first-rates were ships of exactly 100 guns, but as time passed, ships were built with more guns, and they too were called first-rates. There was no standardisation between navies of the time and hence “Raters” were classed differently between navies. Read More..
