Leda class frigate
| 300px HMS Trincomalee, one of the two surviving members of the class. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |  Royal Navy |
| Subclasses: | Modified Leda class |
| Completed: | 47 |
| Cancelled: | 6 |
| Preserved: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Leda-class frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 1062 79/94 bm |
| Length: |
150 ft 1.5 in (45.758 m) (gundeck) 125 ft 4.875 in (38.22383 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam: | 39 ft 11 in (12.17 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | 284 (later 300); |
| Armament: |
38 guns:
|
The Leda-class frigates, were a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. The design of Leda was based on the Sané-designed French frigate Hébé, which the British 44-gun fifth rate HMS Rainbow captured in 1782. (The British took Hébé into service as HMS Hebe but in 1805 renamed her HMS Blonde).
The name Leda was taken from Greek mythology, as was common at the time; the Greek Leda was a woman whom Zeus seduced while he was masquerading as a swan.
After Leda, no more ships were built to this design for several years.
Then the Admiralty ordered eight further ships to this design in 1802-09:
- HMS Pomone, which was wrecked on The Needles in 1811.
- HMS Shannon, the victor over the USS Chesapeake, off Boston, on 1 June 1813.
- HMS Leonidas
- HMS Briton
- HMS Tenedos
- HMS Lacedemonian
- HMS Lively
- HMS Surprise
Eight ships were ordered in 1812 to be built of "fir" (actually, of red pine) instead of oak; these were sometimes called the Cydnus class:
Seven more vessels to this design (reverting to oak construction) were ordered in 1812-15:
- HMS Diamond
- HMS Amphitrite
- HMS Trincomalee, a sailing frigate that has survived to the present day.
- HMS Thetis
- HMS Arethusa
- HMS Blanche
- HMS Fisgard
Six more vessels of this design were ordered in 1816 but were modified to incorporate Sir Robert Seppings's circular stern and "small-timber" form of construction):
A further twenty-three ships were ordered to this modified design in 1817, although the last six were never completed, or not completed to this design:
- HMS Nereus
- HMS Hamadryad
- HMS Amazon
- HMS Aeolus
- HMS Thisbe
- HMS Cerberus
- HMS Circe
- HMS Clyde
- HMS Thames
- HMS Fox, completed 1856 as a screw frigate
- HMS Unicorn, another sailing frigate that has survived to the present day.
- HMS Daedalus, completed 1844 as a 19-gun sixth-rate corvette
- HMS Proserpine
- HMS Mermaid
- HMS Mercury
- HMS Penelope
- HMS Thalia
The last six ships of the 1817 orders were never completed to this design:
- HMS Pegasus - canceled 1831
- HMS Nemesis - re-ordered to Seringapatam-class design.
- HMS Statira - re-ordered to Seringapatam-class design.
- HMS Jason - re-ordered to Seringapatam-class design.
- HMS Druid - re-ordered to Seringapatam-class design.
- HMS Medusa - canceled 1831
External links
- Origin of the Leda-class frigate
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
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