| Coventry-class frigate | |
|---|---|
 The Coventry-class frigate HMS Carysfort retaking the Castor from the French on 29 May 1794 Thomas Whitcombe | |
| Class overview | |
| Name: | Coventry class |
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy |
| Built: | 1756–1787 |
| In commission: | 1787–1828 |
| Planned: | 20 |
| Completed: | 19 |
| Cancelled: | 1 |
| Lost: | 6 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 587 30/94 bm |
| Length: | 118 ft 4 in (36.07 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | 200 |
| Armament: |
As built : UD: 24 × 9-pounder guns QD: 4 × 3-pounder guns FC: nil From 1780 : UD: 24 × 9-pounder guns QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns and 18-pounder carronades FC: 2 × 18-pounder carronades |
These 28-gun sailing frigates of the sixth rate were designed in 1756 by Sir Thomas Slade "to the draught of the Tartar with such alterations withinboard as may be judged necessary". A total of twelve ships were built in oak during the Seven Years' War, all ordered from private shipyards; eleven of them were built over the relatively short period of three years; the twelfth was completed following the close of that war in a royal dockyard as its original contractor became bankrupt, and one further ship to this design was also built postwar in a royal dockyard.
A variant was designed for building with fir hulls rather than oak; this variant design, to which five further vessels were built (see second batch below), all in the royal dockyards, differed in some respects, notably by having a square tuck stern. The use of this material meant that they could be built much more rapidly than their oak near-sisters, but the fir deteriorated quickly, so that they had a considerably shorter life.
More than a quarter-century after the design was produced, two further oak-built ships to this design were ordered to be built by contract in October 1782. One of these was cancelled a year later when the builder became bankrupt.
Ships in class[]
First batch[]
4 oak-built ships
- Coventry
- Ordered: 13 April 1756
- Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
- Keel laid: 31 May 1756
- Launched: 30 May 1757
- Completed: 31 July 1757 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken by the French Navy in the Bay of Bengal 12 January 1783.
- Lizard
- Ordered: 13 April 1756
- Built by: Henry Bird, Rotherhithe.
- Keel laid: 5 May 1756
- Launched: 7 April 1757
- Completed: 1 June 1757 at Deptford Dockyard.
- Fate: Hulked as a hospital ship 1800, and sold at Sheerness Dockyard 22 September 1828.
- Liverpool
- Ordered: 3 September 1756
- Built by: John Gorill & William Pownall, Liverpool.
- Keel laid: 1 October 1756
- Launched: 10 February 1758
- Completed: 26 July 1758 at the builder's shipyard.
- Fate: Wrecked in Jamaica Bay, Long Island 11 February 1778.
- Maidstone
- Ordered: 3 September 1756
- Built by: Thomas Seward, Rochester.
- Keel laid: 1 October 1756
- Launched: 9 February 1758
- Completed: 7 April 1758 at Chatham Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken to pieces at Sheerness Dockyard in July 1794.
Second batch[]
5 fir-built ships
- Boreas
- Ordered: 18 April 1757
- Built by: Woolwich Dockyard.
- Keel laid: 21 April 1757
- Launched: 29 July 1757
- Completed: 6 September 1757
- Fate: Sold 29 June 1770.
- Hussar
- Ordered: 18 April 1757
- Built by: Chatham Dockyard.
- Keel laid: 3 May 1757
- Launched: 23 July 1757
- Completed: 17 August 1757
- Fate: Taken by the French off Cape Francois on 23 May 1762.
- Shannon
- Ordered: 18 April 1757
- Built by: Deptford Dockyard.
- Keel laid: 11 May 1757
- Launched: 17 August 1757
- Completed: 8 October 1757
- Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in December 1765.
- Trent
- Ordered: 5 May 1757
- Built by: Woolwich Dockyard.
- Keel laid: 19 May 1757
- Launched: 31 October 1757
- Completed: 23 November 1757
- Fate: Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 26 January 1764.
- Actaeon
- Ordered: 5 May 1757
- Built by: Chatham Dockyard.
- Keel laid: 26 May 1757
- Launched: 30 September 1757
- Completed: 9 November 1757
- Fate: Sold at Deptford Dockyard on 9 September 1766.
Third batch[]
9 oak-built ships
- Active
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Thomas Stanton & Co, Rotherhithe.
- Keel laid: 13 June 1757
- Launched: 11 January 1758
- Completed: 2 March 1758 at Deptford Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken by the French Navy off San Domingo 1 September 1778.
- Aquilon
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Robert Inwood, Rotherhithe.
- Keel laid: 15 June 1757
- Launched: 25 May 1758
- Completed: 30 June 1758 at Deptford Dockyard.
- Fate: Sold at Deptford 29 November 1776.
- Cerberus
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Pleasant Fenn, East Cowes.
- Keel laid: 13 June 1757
- Launched: 5 September 1758
- Completed: 11 November 1758 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
- Fate: Burnt to prevent capture at Rhode Island 5 August 1778.
- Griffin
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Moody Janvrin, Bursledon.
- Keel laid: June 1757
- Launched: 18 October 1758
- Completed: 13 March 1759 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
- Fate: Wrecked off Barbuda 27 October 1761.
- Levant
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Henry Adams, Buckler's Hard.
- Keel laid: June 1757
- Launched: 6 July 1758
- Completed: 16 June 1759 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in September 1780.
- Argo
- Ordered: 19 September 1757
- Built by: Henry Bird, Rotherhithe.
- Keel laid: 22 September 1757
- Launched: 20 July 1758
- Completed: 29 January 1759 at Deptford Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in November 1776.
- Milford
- Ordered: 19 September 1757
- Built by: Richard Chitty, Milford.
- Keel laid: November 1757
- Launched: 20 September 1759
- Completed: 28 December 1759 at builder's shipyard.
- Fate: Sold at Woolwich Dockyard on 17 May 1785.
- Guadeloupe
- Ordered: 19 September 1757
- (originally ordered from John Williams, Neyland (Pembs.), but the ordered was transferred to Plymouth Dockyard following Williams's bankruptcy in 1758.)
- Re-ordered: 29 June 1758
- Built by: Plymouth Dockyard.
- Keel laid: 8 May 1759
- Launched: 5 December 1763
- Completed: 11 July 1764.
- Fate: Scuttled in York River, Virginia on 10 October 1781, but salved by the French Navy in which service she was maintained until 1786.
- Carysfort
- Ordered: 4 February 1764
- Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
- Keel laid: June 1764
- Launched: 23 August 1766
- Completed: 11 August 1767
- Fate: Sold at Deptford Dockyard on 28 April 1813.
Final batch[]
2 oak-built ships, only 1 completed
- Hind
- Ordered: 2 October 1782
- Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
- Keel laid: February 1783
- Launched: 22 July 1785
- Completed: 24 November 1787 at Deptford Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in July 1811.
- Laurel
- Ordered: 22 October 1782
- Built by: Philemon Jacobs, Sandgate.
- Cancelled: 7 October 1783.
References[]
- David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List, Brasseys Publications, London 1993.
- Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792, Seaforth Publishing, London 2007.
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Warning: Display title "<i>Coventry</i> class frigate" overrides earlier display title "<i>Coventry</i>-class frigate".
The original article can be found at Coventry-class frigate and the edit history here.