Re: REPLY: English Rating of Fighting Sail (fwd)

A highly useful summary - thanks much for that.

Jim C


>From: Richard Gant
>
>I thought this might be of some interest.  It's mildly off topic, but not
>too bad (I hope).
>
>Rich Gant
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>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2001 14:36:04 -0500
>From: H-War Editor Mark Parillo <war@???.edu>
>Reply-To: H-NET Military History Discussion List <H-WAR@?-???.???.edu>
>To: H-WAR@?-???.???.edu
>Subject: REPLY: English Rating of Fighting Sail
>
>From: GMegargee@?????.org
>Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 12:59:33 -0400
>
>The following information is from the website of the National Maritime
>Museum in Greenwich, England (http://www.nmm.ac.uk).  Unfortunately it does
>not answer Dr. Lynn's question as to *when* the system came into being --
>sorry, John -- but it at least gives a clear explanation of the system for
>those who are not familiar with it.  If no one else can come up with the
>date, an inquiry to the museum might be a good next step (but it costs
>money).
>
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>Why are Royal Navy sailing ships sometimes described as 'First Rate',
>'Third Rate,' etc.?
>
>A ship's 'rate' was basically decided by the number of guns she carried,
>from the largest 120-gun First Rate, down to Sixth Rate 20-gun ships. The
>smaller 'unrated' vessels (sloops, brigs, bomb vessels, etc) were
>commanded by more junior officers (Commanders, Lieutenants), but a 'rated'
>ship was always a Captain's command and always ship rigged, that is with
>three square rigged masts.
>
>First Rate: The biggest ships of the fleet, with their gun batteries
>carried on three decks, were generally used as flagships and fought in the
>centre of the line-of-battle. They were armed with a minimum of 100 heavy
>cannon, carried a crew of about 850 and were over 2000 tons Builder's
>Measure (a formula for calculating the capacity of the ship, not the
>displacement of the ship as is the practice nowadays).
>
>Second Rate: The Second Rate ships of the line were also three-deckers,
>but smaller, and thus cheaper, versions of the First Rates. They mounted
>between 90 and 98 guns, and, like the First Rates, fought in the centre of
>the line-of-battle. Generally around the 2000 ton mark, they had a crew of
>approximately 750. Like the First Rates, they had 32 pounder guns on the
>gundeck, but 18 pounders instead of 24 pounders on the middle deck, with
>12 pounders on the upper deck (compared to 18 or 24 pounders on First
>Rates). Both First and Second Rates carried lighter guns or carronades on
>their forecastles and quarterdecks. Unlike the First Rates, which were too
>valuable to risk in distant stations, the Second Rates often served
>overseas as flagships. They had a reputation for poor handling and slow
>sailing.
>
>Third Rate: The most numerous line-of-battle ships were the two-decker
>Third Rates, with between 64 and 80 guns. The most effective and numerous
>of these was the 74-gun ship, in many ways the ideal compromise of
>economy, fighting power and sailing performance, and forming the core of
>the battlefleet. They carried 32 pounder guns on the gundeck and 18
>pounders on the upperdeck, with a crew of 600 to 650 men.
>
>Fourth Rate: Two decker ships of 50 to 60 guns, were, by the end of the
>18th century, no longer reckoned to be 'fit to stand in the line of
>battle'. Despite this, 50 gun ships were heavily engaged, in the line, at
>the battles of Camperdown and Copenhagen. With two decks, their extra
>accomodation made them suitable flagships for minor overseas stations,
>while their relatively shallow draught made them suitable as headquarter
>ships for anti-invasion operations in the North Sea and the English
>Channel. They were also useful as convoy escorts, troopships and even, on
>occasion, as convict transports. In normal service they had a main
>armament of 18 pounders, a crew of 350 and measured around 1000 tons.
>
>Fifth Rate: These were the frigates, the Navy's 'glamour ships'. With
>their main armament on a single gundeck, they were the fast scouts of the
>battlefleet, when not operating in an independent cruising role, searching
>out enemy merchant ships, privateers or enemy fleets. Developed from
>early-18th century prototypes, the Fifth Rates of Nelson's time had a
>variety of armaments and gun arrangements, from 32-gun ships armed with 12
>pounders to 36 and 38-gun frigates with 18 pounders, even some 40-gun
>ships and cut down two-deckers with 24 pounders. Captured enemy frigates
>were also used in service, and many of the best British-built ships were
>copied or adapted from French designs. All classes carried lighter guns
>and carronades on the quarterdeck and forecastle. Their tonnage ranged
>from 700 to 1450 tons, with crews of 250 to 300 men.
>
>Sixth Rate: The Sixth Rates were smaller and more lightly armed frigates,
>with between 22 and 28 nine-pounder guns, a crew of about 150, and
>measuring 450 to 550 tons. There were never enough frigates; while Lord
>Nelson was searching for the French fleet before the battle of the Nile he
>said, 'Frigates! Were I to die this moment, want of frigates would be
>found engraved on my heart!'
>
>Unrated vessels included the following:
>
>Sloop: A sloop of war was a vessel commanded by an officer with the rank
>of Commander. Sloops could be armed with between 10 and 18 guns, be ship
>rigged or brigs (two-masted square rig) and were capable of most of the
>tasks undertaken by frigates, with the exception of fleet reconnaisance.
>They were often armed with carronades, giving them a heavy punch at close
>range. The cruiser class was the most numerous class of sailing warships
>ever built, over 100 of these 380 ton, 18 gun brig sloops being built.
>They carried a crew of 120 men.
>
>Bomb vessels and fireships: Developed from two-masted craft (ketches)
>armed with mortars for shore bombardment, and first used by the French in
>the late 17th century, the bomb vessel of the late 18th century had ship
>rig. These strongly built ships were sometimes used for naval expeditions
>to the Arctic: the young midshipman Nelson made one such voyage in the
>Carcass. The fireship, intended as a means of setting an enemy ship on
>fire, was often a converted merchantship, though some were specially built
>for the Royal Navy. Both the bomb vessel and the fireship were only seldom
>used in their designed role, but proved useful as patrol or convoy escort
>sloops.
>
>Gunboats and gunbrigs: These were small, two-masted vessels, a
>Lieutenant's command, and originally intended for anti-invasion patrol.
>Later, they developed into more capable vessels, fit for a variety of
>tasks. They were built to a wide variety of classes, and often had
>evocative names, for instance Grappler, Growler and Griper were three
>'Courser' Class gunbrigs.
>
>Cutters: Developed from craft used by English smugglers, these single
>masted vessels were built for speed. They were employed as patrol boats
>and despatch carriers. Schooners, two masted fore- and aft-rigged vessels
>developed from American types, were similarly used.
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>Geoff Megargee
>

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