Hermes-class post ship

The Hermes-class sailing sixth rates were a series of four 20-gun post ships built to an 1810 design based on the ex-French prize Bonne Citoyenne, which the British captured in 1796, and which served in the Royal Navy to the end of the Napoleonic War.

The first pair were built at Milford Dockyard on the north side of Milford Haven. Hermes was launched in 1811 and Myrmidon in 1813. Milford Dockyard was closed following their construction, and the second pair were built at the new Pater (later Pembroke Dock) Dockyard on the south side of Milford Haven.

The second pair – Ariadne and Valorous – were launched on the same date in 1816. They were modified at Plymouth Dockyard before their first commission by the addition of quarterdecks and forecastle to what had originally been flush-deck vessels, and they were at that time re-classed as 26-gun sixth rates.

Ships in class

 * HMS Hermes (1811)
 * Builder: Milford Dockyard
 * Ordered: 18 January 1810
 * Laid down: May 1810
 * Launched: 22 July 1811
 * Completed: 7 September 1811
 * Fate: Grounded and burnt in action at Mobile in 1814.
 * HMS Myrmidon (1813)
 * Builder: Milford Dockyard
 * Ordered: 2 August 1811
 * Laid down: July 1812
 * Launched: 18 June 1813
 * Completed: 6 February 1814 at Plymouth Dockyard
 * Fate: Broken up at Portsmouth in 1823.
 * HMS Ariadne (1816)
 * Builder: Pater Dockyard
 * Ordered: 28 November 1812
 * Laid down: April 1815
 * Launched: 10 February 1816
 * Completed: 21 March 1816
 * Fate: Sold to break up at Alexandria in 1841.
 * HMS Valorous (1816)
 * Builder: Pater Dockyard
 * Ordered: 28 November 1812
 * Laid down: March 1815
 * Launched: 10 February 1816
 * Completed: 26 March 1816 at Plymouth Dockyard
 * Fate: Broken up at Chatham in 1829.