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Plan of the Enterprise -class frigate Medea dated 1778
Class overview
Built 1771–1791
In commission 1775–1828
Completed 27
General characteristics
Tons burthen 593 89/94
Length 120 ft 6 in (36.73 m)
Beam 33 ft 6 in (10.21 m)
Depth of hold 11 ft (3.4 m)
Sail plan
Full-rigged ship
Complement 200
Armament
UD: 24 × 9-pounder guns
QD: 4 × 3-pounder guns
From 1780 :
UD: 24 × 9-pounder guns
QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns, 4 × 18-pounder carronades
FC: 2 × 18-pounder carronades
The Enterprise -class frigates were the final class of 28-gun sailing
frigates of the
sixth-rate to be produced for the
Royal Navy . These twenty-seven vessels were designed in 1770 by
John Williams . A first batch of five ships were ordered as part of the programme sparked by the
Falklands Islands emergency . Two ships were built by contract in private shipyards, while three others were constructed in the Royal Dockyards using foreign oak.
A second batch of fifteen ships were ordered in 1776 to 1778 to meet the exigencies of the North American situation, and a final group of seven ships followed in 1782 to 1783 with only some minor modifications to include side gangways running flush with the quarterdeck and forecastle, and with solid bulkheads along the quarterdeck.
Ships in class
First batch
Siren
Ordered: 25 December 1770
Built by: John Henniker and Company, Chatham.
Keel laid: April 1771
Launched: 2 November 1773
Completed: 5 October 1775 at Chatham Royal Dockyard.
Fate: Grounded and abandoned under fire off Point Judith, Connecticut on 6 November 1777.
Fox
Ordered: 25 December 1770
Built by: Thomas Raymond, Northam (Southampton).
Keel laid: May 1771
Launched: 2 September 1773
Completed: 12 February 1776 at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard.
Fate: Captured by the French off Brest on 11 September 1778.
Surprise
Ordered: January 1771
Built by: Woolwich Royal Dockyard.
Keel laid: 5 September 1771
Launched: 13 April 1774
Completed: 15 April 1775
Fate: Sold at Woolwich Dockyard on 24 April 1783.
Enterprise
Ordered: January 1771
Built by: Deptford Royal Dockyard.
Keel laid: 9 September 1771
Launched: 24 August 1774
Completed: 20 June 1775
Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in August 1807.
Actaeon
Ordered: 5 November 1771
Built by: Woolwich Royal Dockyard.
Keel laid: October 1772
Launched: 18 April 1775
Completed: 3 August 1775
Fate: Grounded off Fort Sullivan, South Carolina and burnt to avoid capture on 29 June 1776.
Second batch
Proserpine
Ordered: 14 May 1776
Built by: John Barnard, Harwich.
Keel laid: June 1776
Launched: 7 July 1777
Completed: 23 September 1777 at Sheerness Dockyard.
Fate: Wrecked in the Elbe Estuary on 1 February 1799.
Medea
Ordered: 14 May 1776
Built by: James Martin
Hillhouse , Bristol.
Keel laid: June 1776
Launched: 28 April 1778
Completed: 15 September 1778 at Plymouth Dockyard.
Fate: Fitted as hospital ship 1801. Sold 1805.
Andromeda
Ordered: 14 May 1776
Built by: Robert Fabian, East Cowes.
Keel laid: July 1776
Launched: 18 November 1777
Completed: 28 January 1778 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
Fate: Lost with all hands in a hurricane off Martinique on 11 October 1780.
Aurora
Ordered: 3 July 1776
Built by: John Perry & Company, Blackwall.
Keel laid: July 1776
Launched: 7 June 1777
Completed: 9 August 1777 at Woolwich Dockyard.
Fate: Sold at Chatham on 3 November 1814.
Sibyl
Ordered: 24 July 1776
Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
Keel laid: 10 December 1776
Launched: 2 January 1779
Completed: 13 March 1779 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
Fate: Wrecked off Madagascar on 26 July 1798.
Brilliant
Ordered: 9 October 1776
Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
Keel laid: February 1777
Launched: 15 July 1779
Completed: 4 September 1779 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in November 1811.
Pomona
Ordered: 7 March 1777
Built by: Thomas Raymond, Chapel (Southampton).
Keel laid: 8 May 1777
Launched: 22 September 1778
Completed: 17 December 1778 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in August 1811.
Crescent
Ordered: 19 July 1777
Built by: James Martin
Hillhouse , Bristol.
Keel laid: 19 August 1777
Launched: March 1779
Completed: 30 June 1779 at Plymouth Dockyard.
Fate: Captured by the French on 19 June 1781.
Nemesis
Ordered: 30 September 1777
Built by: Jolly, Leathers & Barton, Liverpool.
Keel laid: November 1777
Launched: 23 January 1780
Completed: 22 June 1780 at Plymouth Dockyard.
Fate: Sold for breaking up at Plymouth Dockyard on 9 June 1814.
Resource
Ordered: 30 September 1777
Built by: John Randall & Company, Rotherhithe.
Keel laid: November 1777
Launched: 10 August 1778
Completed: 2 October 1778 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Renamed Enterprise on 17 April 1806. Sold at Deptford Dockyard on 28 August 1816.
Mercury
Ordered: 22 January 1778
Built by: Peter Mestaer, Rotherhithe.
Keel laid: 25 March 1778
Launched: 9 December 1779
Completed: 24 February 1780 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Woolwich Dockyard in January 1814.
Pegasus
Ordered: 21 February 1778
Built by: Deptford Dockyard.
Keel laid: 20 June 1778
Launched: 1 June 1779
Completed: 20 July 1779.
Fate: Sold at Deptford Dockyard to break up on 28 August 1816.
Cyclops
Ordered: 6 March 1778
Built by: James Menetone & Son, Limehouse.
Keel laid: 3 April 1778
Launched: 31 July 1779
Completed: 26 September 1779 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 1 September 1814.
Vestal
Ordered: 18 March 1778
Built by: Robert & John Batson, Limehouse.
Keel laid: 1 May 1778
Launched: 24 December 1779
Completed: 25 February 1780 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Sold at Barbados in February 1816.
Laurel
Ordered: 30 April 1778
Built by: Thomas Raymond, Chapel (Southampton).
Keel laid: 3 June 1778
Launched: 27 October 1779
Completed: 4 January 1780 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
Fate: Wrecked in a hurricane off Martinique on 11 October 1780.
Third batch
Thisbe
Ordered: 23 February 1782
Built by: Thomas King, Dover.
Keel laid: September 1782
Launched: 25 November 1783
Completed: 19 April 1784 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Sold to be broken up, 9 August 1815.
Circe
Ordered: 6 March 1782
Built by: Henry Ladd, Dover.
Keel laid: December 1782
Launched: 30 September 1785
Completed: 2 November 1790 at Woolwich Dockyard.
Fate: Wrecked off Great Yarmouth on 17 November 1803.
Rose
Ordered: 15 March 1782
Built by: Joshua Stewart & Hall, Sandgate.
Keel laid: June 1782
Launched: 1 July 1783
Completed: 23 October 1783 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Wrecked off Jamaica on 28 June 1794.
Hussar
Ordered: 26 March 1782
Built by: Fabian, Clayton & Willson, Sandgate.
Keel laid: June 1782
Launched: 1 September 1784
Completed: November 1787 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Wrecked off Brittany 27 December 1796
Alligator
Ordered: 7 May 1782
Built by: Philemon Jacobs, Sandgate.
Keel laid: December 1782
Launched: 18 April 1787
Completed: 18 July 1790 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Sold at Plymouth Dockyard 21 July 1814.
Dido
Ordered: 5 June 1782
Built by: Joshua Stuart & Hall, Sandgate.
Keel laid: September 1782
Launched: 27 November 1784
Completed: October 1787 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
Fate: Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 3 April 1817.
Lapwing
Ordered: 22 October 1782
Built by: Thomas King, Dover.
Keel laid: February 1783
Launched: 21 September 1785
Completed: 19 May 1791 at Woolwich Dockyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Plymouth Dockyard in May 1828.
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.
External links