Seagull-class brig-sloop

The Seagull class were built as a class of thirteen 16-gun brig-sloops for the Royal Navy, although an extra 2 carronades were added soon after completion. The class was designed by one of the Surveyors of the Navy - Sir William Rule - and approved on 4 January 1805. Five vessels to this design were ordered in December 1804; eight more were ordered in the summer of 1805.

Drawing showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with midship framing and scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for the Seagull-class ships
Class overview
Name	Seagull-class brig-sloop
Operators	Royal Navy
In service	1805–1819
Completed	13
General characteristics
Type	Brig-sloop
Tons burthen	282 36⁄94 bm
Length	93 ft (28.3 m) (gundeck) 76 ft (23.2 m) (keel)
Beam	26 ft 5 in (8.1 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft (3.7 m)
Sail plan	Brig-rigged
Complement	95
Armament	As built: 2 × 6-pounder guns as chase guns 14 × 24-pounder carronades Later: 2 × 6-pounder guns as bow chasers 16 × 24-pounder carronades

Armament

Unlike the larger Cruizer-class brig-sloops, whose main battery was composed of 32-pounder carronades, the Seagull class (and the similar Fly-class brig-sloops designed by Rule's co-surveyor - Sir John Henslow) were armed with a main battery of 24-pounder slide-mounted carronades.

Ships

Name	Builder	Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Fate
Seagull	John King, Dover	12 December 1804	February 1805	1 July 1805	Captured 1808; decommissioned from Norwegian navy 1817
Oberon	James Shepheard, Hull	12 December 1804	March 1805	13 August 1805	Broken up May 1816
Imogen	Jabez Bailey, Ipswich	12 December 1804	April 1805	11 July 1805	Sold for breaking on 3 April 1817
Nightingale	John King, Dover	12 December 1804	April 1805	29 July 1805	Sold 23 November 1815; mercantile service to c.1829
Savage	Robert Adams, Chapel (Southampton)	12 December 1804	April 1805	30 July 1805	Sold for breaking 6 March 1819
Skylark	William Row, Newcastle	19 June 1805	November 1805	February 1806	Grounded 3 May 1812 west of Boulogne; burnt to avoid capture.
Paulina	Robert Guillaume, Northam (Southampton)	11 July 1805	August 1805	7 December 1805	Sold for breaking 30 May 1816
Delight	Richard Thorne, Fremington (near Barnstaple)	12 July 1805	September 1805	June 1806	Captured 31 January 1808 while stranded on the coast of Calabria.
Orestes	Jabez Bailey, Ipswich	16 July 1805	August 1805	23 October 1805	Sold for breaking 6 March 1817
Electra	James Betts, Mistleythorn (near Manningtree)	19 July 1805	August 1805	21 January 1806	Wrecked 1808; salved but broken up later that year at Malta
Julia	Jabez Bailey, Ipswich	30 July 1805	October 1805	4 February 1806	Wrecked at Tristan de Cunha 2 October 1817
Satellite	Thomas Hills, Sandwich	7 August 1805	September 1805	March 1806	Foundered 19/20 December 1810
Sheldrake	Mark Richards, Hythe	30 August 1805	October 1805	21 March 1806	Sold for breaking 6 March 1816

References

• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.