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Class of frigates in the Royal Navy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Coventry-class frigates were 28-gun sixth rate frigates of the Royal Navy, principally in service during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. They were designed in 1756 by Britain's Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Thomas Slade, and were largely modeled on HMS Tartar, which was regarded as an exemplar among small frigates due to its speed and maneuverability. The 1750s were a period of considerable experimentation in ship design, and Slade authorized individual builders to make "such alterations withinboard as may be judged necessary" in final construction.
The Coventry-class frigate HMS Liverpool | |
| 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 and 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 |
|
A total of twelve Coventry-class frigates were built in oak during the Seven Years' War. Eleven of these were ordered from private shipyards and built over the relatively short period of three years; the twelfth was completed following the close of the War in a royal dockyard after its original contractor became bankrupt.
The five vessels in the second batch were built fir hulls rather than oak. The use of fir instead of oak increased the speed of construction but reduced the frigate's durability over time. This batch also differed in external appearance to the oak-built frigates, as they had a square tuck stern. The third and fourth batches returned to oak frames.
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.
| Ship | Builder | Price and contract rate | Naval fitout | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Out of service | Fate | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coventry | Henry Adams, Buckler's Hard | £5,130 at £8.15s per ton | £3,977 | May 1756 | May 1757 | May 1757 | 1783 | Captured by French Navy | [1] |
| Lizard | Henry Bird, Rotherhithe | £5,541 at £9.9s per ton | £3,879 | May 1756 | April 1757 | March 1757 | 1828 | Sold at Sheerness Dockyard | [1] |
| Liverpool | Gorill & Pownall, Liverpool | £4,910 at £8.7s per ton | Not recorded | September 1756 | February 1758 | February 1758 | 1778 | Wrecked off Long Island | [1] |
| Maidstone | Thomas Seward, Rochester | £5,277 at £9.0s per ton | £4,085 | October 1756 | February 1758 | January 1758 | 1794 | Broken up at Sheerness Dockyard | [1] |
Admiralty's intention for the second batch of vessels was for a total of ten frigates, swiftly and cheaply built from fir rather than oak. The design for these vessels was modified to square the stern, increasing stability in rough seas and allowing a marginal improvement in storage capacity. Construction tenders were offered to private shipyards but the proposed prices exceeded Admiralty's budget. The batch was therefore reduced to just five ships, to be built using government labour at the Royal Dockyards.[1] The use of fir significantly reduced construction time from the average nine months for the first batch of oak-hulled frigates to three and a half months for the fir-hulled ships. However the fir timbers were significantly less durable: the four vessels that served without being captured averaged only nine years at sea before being broken up or sold. All of the second batch of vessels were out of service before any of the first batch had been retired. Admiralty returned to using oak-built hulls for all subsequent ships in the Coventry-class.
| Ship | Builder | Price and contract rate | Naval fitout | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Out of service | Fate | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boreas | Israel Pownoll, Woolwich Dockyard | £6,314 | £2,879 | April 1757 | July 1757 | September 1757 | 1770 | Sold out of naval service | [1] |
| Hussar | John Lock, Chatham Dockyard | £11,313 including fitout | Not recorded | May 1757 | July 1757 | August 1757 | 1762 | Captured by French Navy | [1] |
| Shannon | Adam Hayes, Deptford Dockyard | £9,813 including fitout | Not recorded | May 1757 | August 1757 | October 1757 | 1765 | Broken up at Portsmouth Dockyard | [1] |
| Trent | Israel Pownoll, Woolwich Dockyard | £6,929 | £2,866 | May 1757 | October 1757 | November 1757 | 1764 | Sold out of naval service | [1] |
| Actaeon | John Lock, Chatham Dockyard | £11,228 including fitout | Not recorded | May 1757 | September 1757 | November 1757 | 1766 | Sold out of naval service | [1] |
9 oak-built ships
2 oak-built ships, only 1 completed
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