List of ships of the line of the Royal Navy

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For ships which were part of the English Navy prior to 1660, see List of early warships of the English Navy.

This is a list of ships of the line of the Royal Navy of England, and later (from 1707) of Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. The list dates from 1660, the year in which the Royal Navy came into being after the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II, up until the emergence of the battleship around 1880, as defined by the Admiralty.

Contents

The early Restoration period (1660-1677)

This list includes several earlier ships which were rebuilt for the Royal Navy in this period – specifically the first rate Royal Prince (in 1663), the second rate Victory (in 1666), the third rate Montagu (in 1675) and the fourth rates Bonaventure (in 1663) and Constant Warwich (in 1666). The process, which generally involved the dismantling in dry dock of the old ship and constructing it to a new design incorporating part of the materials from the old vessel, produced what were in effect substantially new ships with altered dimensions and sizes, and generally mounting a somewhat larger number of guns.

First rates

  • Royal Prince 92 (Rebuilt 1663) – taken and burnt by the Dutch 1666.
  • Charles 96 (1668) – renamed St George 1687, reclassed as second rate 1691, rebuilt 1701.
  • St Andrew 96 (1670) – renamed Royal Anne when rebuilt 1704.
  • London 96 (1670) – broken up 1701.
  • Prince 100 (1670) – repaired and renamed Royal William 1692, rebuilt 1719.
  • Royal James 100 (1671) – burned in action 1672.
  • Royal Charles 100 (1673) – repaired and renamed Queen 1693, rebuilt and renamed Royal George in 1715.
  • Royal James 100 (1675) – renamed Victory 1691, then Royal George 1714, then Victory again in 1715; burnt by accident 1721.

Second rates

  • Royal Katherine 76 (1664) – rebuilt 1702.
  • Royal Oak 76 (1664) – burned by the Dutch 1667.
  • Loyal London 80 (1666) – burned by the Dutch 1667.
  • Victory 76 (Rebuilt 1666) – broken up 1691.
  • French Ruby 66 (1666) – a prize, Le Rubis, captured from the French, hulked 1682 after storm damage and broken up 1685.
  • St Michael 90 (1669) – re-classed as a first rate 1692, then back to a second rate 1689; rebuilt and renamed Marlborough in 1708.

Third rates

  • Clove Tree 62 (1665) – a prize, Nagelboom, captured from the Dutch, retaken by them 1666.
  • House of Sweeds 70 (1665) – a prize captured from the Dutch, sunk as a blockship in the Thames 1667.
  • Golden Phoenix 70 (1665) – a prize captured from the Dutch, sunk as a blockship in the Thames 1667.
  • Slothany 60 (1665) – a prize captured from the Dutch, hulked 1667, sold 1686.
  • Helverson 60 (1665) – a prize captured from the Dutch, sunk as a blockship in the Medway 1667.
  • Cambridge 64 (1666) – wrecked 1694.
  • Warspite 64 (1666) – rebuilt 1702.
  • Defiance 64 (1666) – burned by accident 1668.
  • Rupert 64 (1666) – rebuilt 1703.
  • Resolution 64 (1667) – rebuilt 1698.
  • Monmouth 64 (1667) – rebuilt 1700.
  • Edgar 72 (1668) – rebuilt 1700.
  • Swiftsure 66 (1673) – rebuilt 1696.
  • Harwich 66 (1674) – wrecked 1691.
  • Royal Oak 70 (1674) – rebuilt 1713.
  • Defiance 64 (1675) – rebuilt 1695.
  • Arms of Rotterdam 60 (1674) – a prize captured from the Dutch, hulked 1675, broken up 1703.
  • Montagu 62 – built as Lyme in 1654, rebuilt as Montagu in 1675 and again rebuilt in 1698

Fourth rates

  • Bonaventure 48 – previously named HMS President. Renamed HMS Bonaventure in 1660, rebuilt in 1666 and broken up for a rebuild in 1711. Re-launched in 1711 as a 50-gun fourth rate. Renamed Argyll in 1715, rebuilt in 1722 and sunk as a breakwater in 1748
  • West Friesland 54 (1665) – a prize, Westfriesland, captured from the Dutch, sold 1667.
  • Seven Oaks 52 (1665) – a prize, Zevenwolden, captured from the Dutch, retaken by them 1666.
  • Charles V 52 (1665) – a prize, Carolus Quintus, captured from the Dutch, burned by them 1667.
  • Guilder de Ruyter 50 (1665) – a prize, Geldersche Ruiter, captured from the Dutch, sold 1667.
  • Maria Sancta 50 (1665) – a prize, Sint Marie, captured from the Dutch, burned by them 1667.
  • Mars 50 (1665) – a prize, Mars, captured from the Dutch, sold 1667.
  • Delfe 48 (1665) – a prize, Delft, captured from the Dutch, sold 1668.
  • St Paul 48 (1665) – a prize, Sint Paulus, captured from the Dutch, burned in action 1666.
  • Hope 44 (1665) – a prize, Hoop, captured from the Dutch, wrecked 1666.
  • Black Spread Eagle 44 (1665) – a prize, Groningen, captured from the Dutch, sunk in action 1666.
  • Golden Lion 42 (1665) – a prize, Gouden Leeuw, captured from the Dutch, given to Guinea Company 1668.
  • Zealand 42 (1665) – a prize, Zeelandia, captured from the Dutch, sold 1667.
  • Unity 42 (1665) – a prize, Eendracht, captured from the Dutch, retaken by them 1667.
  • Young Prince 38 (1665) – a prize, Jonge Prins, captured from the Dutch, expended as a fireship 1666.
  • Black Bull 36 (1665) – a prize, Edam, captured from the Dutch, retaken and sunk by them 1666.
  • Constant Warwick 42 – rebuilt as in 1666, captured by the French 1691.
  • St Patrick 48 (1666) – captured by the Dutch 1667.
  • Greenwich 54 (1666) – rebuilt 1699.
  • St David 54 (1667) – sunk at Portsmouth 1690, raised but sold 1713.
  • Stathouse van Harlem 46 (1667) – a prize, Raadhuis van Haarlem, captured from the Dutch, sunk as a breakwater at Sheerness 1690.
  • Stavoreen 48 (1672) – a prize captured from the Dutch, sold 1682.
  • Arms of Terver 48 (1673) – a prize captured from the Dutch, sold 1682.
  • Oxford 54 (1674) – rebuilt 1702.
  • Woolwich 54 (1675) – rebuilt 1702.
  • Kingfisher 46 (1675) – a specialised fourth rate designed for a role similar to that of the Q-ships of 1914-18, rather than for the battle fleet; rebuilt 1699.

The above list excludes two smaller fourth rates not designed for the line of battle – the galley-frigates Charles Galley and James Galley of 1676. It also excludes 4 fifth rates of 36 guns (the Falcon and Sweepstakes of 1666, the Nonsuch of 1668, and the Phoenix of 1671) which were re-classed as 42-gun fourth rates some years after their original completion, but later reverted to being fifth rates.

The “Thirty Ships” programme of 1677 (1677-1688)

New fourth rates (1683-1688)

  • Mordaunt 46 (c. 1681) – built privately and purchased 1683. wrecked 1693
  • Deptford 50 (1687) – broken up 1700 for rebuild
  • St Albans 50 (1687) – wrecked 1693
  • Sedgemoor 50 (1687) – wrecked 1689

Major rebuilds (1677-1688)

  • Royal Sovereign (first rate) 100 (1685) – burnt by accident 29 January 1696
  • Mary (third rate) 60 (1688) – wrecked in Great Gale 27 October 1703
  • Tiger (fourth rate) 44 (1681) – rebuilt 1701-03
  • Bonaventure (fourth rate) 48 (1683) – rebuilt 1699
  • Hampshire (fourth rate) 46 (1686) – sunk in action 26 August 1697.
  • Assistance (fourth rate) 48 (1687) – rebuilt 1699
  • Ruby (fourth rate) 48 (1687) – rebuilt 1704-06

Captures – ex-Algerines

The Royal Navy took into service as fourth rates the following ships captured from the Algerines (Algerian corsairs).
  • Marigold 44 (ex-Algerine Marygold, captured 28 October 1677) – wrecked 1679.
  • Tiger Prize 48 (ex-Algerine, captured 1 April 1678) – sunk as a breakwater 1696.
  • Golden Horse 46 (ex-Algerine Golden Horse, captured 9 April 1681) – sunk as a breakwater 1688.
  • Half Moon 44 (ex-Algerine Half Moon, captured 9 September 1681) – burnt by accident 1686.
  • Two Lions 44 (ex-Algerine Two Lions, captured 16 September 1681) – sold 1688.

List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1688-1697)

Number of main guns follows name (see rating system of the Royal Navy)
Except where stated otherwise, these ships are listed in the order of p163-165 The Ship of the Line Volume I, by Brian Lavery, pub Conways, 1983, ISBN 0-85177-252-8

The "Twenty-Seven Ships" programme of 1691

This programme was approved by Parliament on 10 October 1690. While nominally it comprised seventeen Third rates of 80 guns and ten fourth rates of 60 guns, funds for three Third rates of 70 guns were provided at virtually the same date as the Programme, which should thus strictly speaking refer to Thirty Ships.

These four were originally intended to be two-deckers, like the other thirteen, but were completed as three-deckers.

Other third rates

  • 70-gun ships, ordered 1695
    • Bedford 70 (1698) – rebuilt 1741
    • Orford 70 (1698) – rebuilt 1712
    • Nassau 70 (1699) – wrecked 1706
    • Revenge 70 (1699) – renamed Buckingham 1711, hulk 1727, scuttled as a foundation 1745
  • 64-gun ship
    • Dreadnought 64 (1691) – reduced to Fourth rate 1697, rebuilt 1706

Second rates of 90 guns, ordered 1695

  • Association 90 (1697) – wrecked 1707
  • Barfleur 90 (1697) – rebuilt 1716 at 80-gun ship
  • Namur 90 (1697) – rebuilt 1729
  • Triumph 90 (1698) – renamed Prince 1714, rebuilt 1750

Fourth rates of 50 guns

The split between 123 ft groups and 130 ft groups is not in Lavery, but in the previous version of this list on Wikipedia. However the split is supported by data in The 50-Gun Ship and in British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714.
  • Ordered 1690-92 (123 ft group)
    • Chatham (1691) – broken up 1718 for rebuild
    • Centurion (1691) – broken up 1728 for rebuild
    • Chester (1691) – captured by France at the Battle at The Lizard, 1707
    • Norwich (1691) – wrecked 1692
    • Weymouth (1693) – broken up 1717 for rebuild
    • Falmouth (1693) – captured by France 1704
    • Rochester (1693) – broken up 1714 for rebuild
    • Portland (1693) – broken up 1719 for rebuild
    • Southampton (1693) – broken up 1699 for rebuild
    • Norwich (1693) – broken up 1712 for rebuild
    • Dartmouth (1693) – captured by France 1695, recaptured 1702, renamed Vigo, wrecked 1703
    • Anglesea (1694) – broken up 1719
  • Ordered 1693 (130 ft group)
    • Colchester (1694) – wrecked 1704
    • Romney (1695) – wrecked 1707
    • Lichfield (1695) – broken up 1720 for rebuild
    • Lincoln (1695) – sank 1703
    • Coventry (1695) – captured by France 1704, recaptured 1709
    • Severn (1695) – broken up 1734 for rebuild
    • Burlington (1695) – broken up 1733
  • Ordered 1694 (130 ft group)
  • Ordered 1695 (130 ft group)
    • Blackwall (1696) – captured by France 1705
    • Guernsey (1696) – broken up 1716 for rebuild
    • Nonsuch (1696) – broken up 1716 for rebuild
    • Warwick (1696) – broken up 1709 for rebuild
    • Hampshire 50 (1698) – broken up 1739
    • Winchester 50 (1698) – broken up 1716 for rebuild
    • Salisbury 50 (1698) – captured by France 1703, recaptured 1708, renamed Salisbury Prize, renamed Preston 1716, broken up 1739 for rebuild
    • Worcester 50 (1698) – broken up 1713 for rebuild
    • Dartmouth 42 (1698) – broken up 1714 for rebuild
    • Jersey 50 (1698) – hulked 1731, sunk 1763
    • Carlisle 50 (1698) – blew up 1700
    • Tilbury 50 (1699) – broken up 1726 for rebuild
  • Other 50-Gun Ships (purchased)
    • Falkland (c. 1690) – built by Holland at Newcastle, New England and purchased 1696, rebuilt 1702

Major rebuilds

  • First rates
    • Royal William 100 (1692) – ex-Prince, rebuilt 1719.
    • Queen 100 (1693) – ex-Royal Charles, rebuilt 1715, renamed Royal George
    • Victory 100 (1695) – ex-Royal James, burnt 1721 and broken up
  • Third rates
  • Fourth rates
    • Crown 46 (1689) – rebuilt 1703-04.
    • Dragon 46 (1690) – rebuilt 1706-07.
    • Newcastle 52 (1692) – foundered during Great Storm 27 November 1703.
    • Bristol 50 (1693) – captured 1709
    • Dover 50 (1695) – rebuilt 1716

Captured ships, War of 1689-1697

  • Content 70 (1686) – ex-French captured 29 January 1695, hulk 1703, sold 1715.
  • Ruby Prize 48 (1695) – ex-French captured 1695, sold 1698.
  • Trident 58 (1695) – ex-French, captured 29 January 1695, scuttled as breakwater 1701.
  • Medway Prize 50 (1697) – ex-French privateer, captured 30 April 1697 and then purchased for the Navy 20 August 1697, hulk 1699, scuttled as a foundation 1712.

List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1697-1719)

Number of main guns follows name (see rating system of the Royal Navy)
Except where stated otherwise, these ships are listed in the order of p165-169 The Ship of the Line Volume I, by Brian Lavery, pub Conways, 1983, ISBN 0-85177-252-8

First rates of 100 guns, rebuilt 1697-1719

  • Royal Sovereign 100 (1701) – broken up 1768
  • Royal Anne 100 (1703) – ex-St Andrew, broken up 1757
  • London 100 (1706) – enlarged 1721 to 1,711 tons, broken up 1747
  • Royal George 100 (1715) – ex-Queen, renamed Royal Anne 1756, broken up 1767
  • Britannia 100 (1719) – harbour service 1745, broken up 1749
  • Royal William 100 (1719) – reduced to 84 guns, broken up 1813

New ships, pre-Establishment, 1697-1706

  • Third rates of 70 guns
  • Fourth rates of 60 guns
    • Nottingham 60 (1703) – rebuilt 1719
    • Mary 60 (1704) – rebuilt 1742 and renamed Princess Mary
    • York 60 (1706) – lengthened 1738, sunk as a breakwater 1750
  • Fourth rates of 50 guns, 130ft group

Rebuilds, pre-Establishment, 1697-1706

  • Second rates of 90 guns
  • Third rates of 80 guns
  • Third rates of 70 guns
  • Third rates of 66 guns
    • Monmouth 66 (1700) – rebuilt 1718
    • Warspite 66 (1702) – renamed Edinburgh, rebuilt 1721
    • Rupert 66 (1703) – rebuild of 1666 Rupert to different design, reduced to fourth rate 1716, broken up 1736 (then rebuilt again from 1737 to 1740)
    • Defiance 66 (1707) – reduced to fourth rate 1716, hulk 1743, broken up 1749
  • Fourth rates of 60 guns
  • Fourth rates of 46-54 guns

1706 Establishment

The 1706 Establishment established a desired set of principal dimensions for each group (i.e. size) of warship from the 40-gun fifth rate up to the 90-gun second rate (first rates and ships of less than 40 guns were not covered by the 1706 Establishment). As only the principal dimensions were specified, the design of individual ships remained with the Master Shipwright in each Dockyard; thus ships of the same number of guns built to this Establishment did not constitute a class in the modern sense of all being built to one design.

  • Second rates of 90 guns

The seven Second rates of this Establishment were ordered as 96-gun vessels under the ordnance specification of the 1703 Guns Establishment, but the subsequent 1716 Guns Establishment reduced this armament to 90 guns.

    • Marlborough 90 (1706) – ex-St Michael, rebuilt 1732
    • Blenheim 90 (1709) – ex-Duchess, broken up 1763
    • Neptune 90 (1710) – rebuilt 1730
    • Vanguard 90 (1710) – rebuilt 1739 and renamed Duke
    • Princess 90 (1711) – ex-Ossory, renamed Princess Royal 1728, broken up 1773
    • Sandwich 90 (1712) – broken up 1770
    • Barfleur 90 (1716) – hulked 1764, broken up 1783
  • Third rates of 80 guns

The ten three-decker third rates of this Establishment were ordered as 80-gun vessels under the ordnance specification of the 1703 Guns Establishment, while the subsequent 1716 Guns Establishment retained this total (while making slight adjustments).

The first nineteen of the following vessels were ordered between 1706 and 1714 as 54-gun vessels, armed under the 1703 Guns Establishment with a main battery of 12-pounder guns. Under the 1716 Guns Establishment, the 54-gun ship was superseded by a 50-gun ship with a main battery of 18-pounder guns. The last ten ships listed below were ordered from 1715 onwards which were established and armed to the 1716 Guns Establishment, and the existing 54-gun ships were re-armed to this standard as each came into a dockyard for refitting and opportunity allowed.

  • Fifth rates of 40-44 guns’’’

Note: These small two-decker warships were not ships of the line as they were not powerful enough to stand in the line of battle. They are included in this article as, frankly, they do not 'fit' elsewhere into a list of 18th century British warships. The Navy Board ordered sixteen of the eighteen following vessels between 1705 and 1711 as 42-gun vessels. The Looe and Diamond were not ordered but rather the Navy Board purchased them on the stocks from the shipbuilder who had commenced building them "on spec". All the vessels were armed under the 1703 Guns Establishment with a main battery of 9-pounder guns. Under the 1716 Guns Establishment, a 40-gun ship with a main battery of 12-pounder guns superseded the 42-gun ship. Hence, the last six of the ships listed below were completed as 40-gun ships.

Captured ships, War of Spanish Succession

  • Prompt Prize 80 (third rate) (1692, ex-French Prompt 76, captured 12 October 1702), sunk as a wharf 1703
  • Assurance 70 (third rate) (1697, ex-French Assuré 66, captured 12 October 1702), broken up 1712
  • Ferme 70 (third rate) (1700, ex-French Ferme, captured 12 October 1702), sold 1713
  • Moderate 64 (fourth rate) (1685, ex-French Modéré, captured 12 October 1702), sold 1713
  • Triton 42 (fifth rate, i.e. not a ship of the line) (1697, ex-French Triton, captured 12 October 1702) – sold 1709
  • Hazardous 52 (fourth rate) (1701, ex-French Hasardeux, captured 6 November 1703) – wrecked 1706
  • Falkland Prize 54 (fourth rate) (1698, ex-French flûte Seine, captured 15 July 1704) – wrecked 1705 and sold 1706
  • Arrogant 60 (fourth rate) (1685, ex-French Arrogant, captured 20 March 1705), foundered 1709
  • August 60 (fourth rate) (1704, ex-French Auguste, captured 8 August 1705), wrecked 1716
  • Superb 64 (fourth rate) (1708, ex-French Superbe, captured 29 July 1710), broken up 1732
  • Moor 54 (fourth rate) (1688, ex-French Maure, captured 13 December 1710, scuttled as a breakwater 1716

List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1719-1741)

Number of main guns follows name (see rating system of the Royal Navy)
Except where stated otherwise, these ships are listed in the order of p169-171 The Ship of the Line Volume I, by Brian Lavery, pub Conways, 1983, ISBN 0-85177-252-8

1719 Establishment

Non-Establishment 60-gun ships

  • Centurion 60 (1732) – Used by Anson in his world voyage, reduced to 50 guns 1744, broken up 1769
  • Rippon 60 (1735) – broken up 1751

1733 Proposals

Smaller ships (fifth rates)

No other ships-of-the-line were built. The following small two-deckers were built to carry 40 guns and classed as fifth rates, but they were not designed to form part of the battlefleet. Consequently, they are not included in Lavery's Ship of the Line, but they are included in Winfield's British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792, which covers all vessels of that period.

List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1741-1755)

Number of main guns follows name (see rating system of the Royal Navy)
Except where stated otherwise, these ships are listed in the order of p171-175 The Ship of the Line Volume I, by Brian Lavery, pub Conways, 1983, ISBN 0-85177-252-8

1741 proposals

  • First rates of 100 guns
None built
  • Second rates of 90 guns
  • Third rates of 80 guns
    • Newark 80 (1747) – broken up 1787
    • Devonshire 80 (1745) – cut down and reduced to a 74-gun ship 1747, then immediately reduced further to a 66-gun ship. Broken up 1772 [1]
    • Lancaster 80 (1749) – completed as a ship of 66 guns. broken up 1773.
    • Culloden 80 (1747) – re-ordered and completed as a ship of 74 guns. sold 1770.
    • Somerset 80 (-) – re-ordered as a ship of 66 guns, but cancelled 1748.
  • Third rates of 64 guns
  • Fourth rates of 58 guns
  • Non-Establishment 58 gun ship
  • Fourth rates of 50 guns
  • Bristol class – Non-Establishment 50-gun ships

1745 Establishment

  • First rates of 100 guns
    • Royal George 100 (1756) – foundered 1782
    • Britannia 100 (1762) – renamed Princess Royal 1810, St George 1812, St Barfleur 1819, broken up 1825
  • Second rates of 90 guns
None built
  • Third rates of 80 guns
  • Third rates of 70 guns
    • Vanguard 70 (1748) – sold 1774
    • Somerset 70 (1748) – wrecked 1778
    • Orford 70 (1749) – harbour service 1777, sunk as a breakwater 1783
    • Grafton 70 (1750) – sold 1767
    • Swiftsure 70 (1750) – sold 1773
    • Northumberland 70 (1750) – renamed Leviathan storeship 1777, foundered 1779
    • Buckingham 70 (1751) – renamed Grampus storeship 1771, lost 1778
  • Fourth rates of 60 guns’’’
    • St Albans 60 (1747) – sold 1765
    • Anson 60 (1747) – sold 1773
    • Tiger 60 (1747) – hulked 1760, sold 1765
    • Weymouth 60 (1752) – broken up 1772
    • York 60 (1753) – broken up 1772
    • Medway 60 (1755) – receiving ship 1787, broken up 1811
  • Fourth rates of 50 guns’’’
    • Assistance 50 (1747) – sold 1773.
    • Greenwich 50 (1747) – captured by France 1757.
    • Tavistock 50 (1747) – hulked 1761, broken up 1768.
    • Falmouth 50 (1752) – abandoned aground 1765.
    • Newcastle 50 (1750) – wrecked 1761.
    • Dartmouth 50 (-) – cancelled 1748.
    • Severn 50 (1747) – sold 1759.
    • Woolwich 50 (-) – cancelled 1748.

1745 Establishment, as amended in 1750

  • Second rates of 90 guns’’’
    • Namur 90 (1755) – reduced to 74 in 1805, harbour service 1807, broken up 1833
    • Union 90 (1756) – hospital ship 1799, broken up 1816
    • Neptune 90 (1757) – sheer hulk 1799, broken up 1816
  • Third rate of 80 guns’’’
    • Cambridge 80 (1755) – harbour service 1793, broken up 1808
  • Third rate of 70 guns’’’
  • Fourth rates of 60 guns’’’
  • Fourth rate of 50 guns’’’
    • Preston 50 (1757) – sheer hulk 1785, broken up 1815.

1745 Establishment, as amended in 1752

  • Fourth rates of 60 guns’’’
    • Pembroke 60 (1757) – hulked 1776, broken up 1793
    • Rippon 60 (1758) – harbour service 1801, broken up 1808
  • Fourth rate of 50 guns’’’
    • Chatham 50 (1758) – harbour service 1793, renamed Tilbury 1805/10,[3] broken up 1814

1745 Establishment, as amended in 1754

1745 Establishment, as amended in 1756

Captured ships, War of 1739-1748

Other captured ships

Other ships

Two ships of 74 guns were ordered in January 1748 from Chatham and Woolwich Dockyards, but with the end of the War of Austrian Succession both were cancelled in 1748.

List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1755–1785)

By or soon after the appointment of Baron George Anson as First Lord of the Admiralty in 1751, the system of establishments that covered the design of British warships was abandoned, and with the appointment of Thomas Slade and William Bately as joint holders of the post of Surveyor of the Navy in 1755, new principles governed the composition of the battle fleet. The Navy Board stopped building any further three-decker 80-gun ships. Production of the 70-gun and 60-gun ships also ceased. Instead, new 74-gun and 64-gun ships replaced these classes. Although 50-gun and 44-gun two-deckers continued to be built for cruising duties, the Navy no longer considered the 50-gun ships powerful enough to serve as ships of the line.

Number of main guns follows name (see rating system of the Royal Navy)

First rate of 100 guns (three-deckers)

  • Victory class (Slade)
    • Victory 100 (1765) – “great repair” 1801-03, flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar 1805, 1805-08 modernised and re-rated as 98-gun second rate, hulked at Portsmouth 1824, dry-docked 1922, converted during the 1920s to her 1805 appearance, preserved in commission at Portsmouth as the only remaining ship of the line [5]
  • Royal Sovereign class (Williams)
  • Umpire class (Hunt)

Second rates of 90 guns [later 98 guns] (three-deckers)

Third rates of 80 guns (two-deckers)

  • Caesar class (Hunt)
    • Caesar 80 (1793) – 1814 hulked – used as army depot at Portsmouth, broken up 1821

Third rates of 74 guns (two-deckers)

Third rates of 64 guns (two-deckers)

Fourth rates of 60 guns (two-deckers)

Fourth rates of 50 guns (two-deckers)

Note that from 1756 onwards the 50-gun ships were no longer counted as ships of the line as the Navy no longer considered them powerful enough to stand in the line of battle.

  • Warwick class (Bately)
  • Romney class (Slade)
    • Romney 50 (1762) – wrecked 1804, with the loss of nine lives, on the Haaks on South Sand Head due to the fog and the ignorance of the pilots[6]
  • Salisbury class (Slade) – modified Romney class
    • Salisbury 50 (1769) – wrecked, without loss of life, 1796 on the Isle of Vache near St. Domingo in the West Indies[6]
    • Centurion 50 (1774) – sank at her moorings at Halifax 1824, refloated,[6] broken up 1825
  • Portland class (Williams)
    • Portland 50 (1770) – sold 1817
    • Bristol 50 (1775) – broken up 1810
    • Renown 50 (1774) – broken up 1794
    • Isis 50 (1774) – broken up 1810
    • Leopard 50 (1790) – wrecked 1814 near the Isle of Anacosti in the Saint Lawrence River due to the disobedience and neglect of the Officer of the Watch[6]
    • Hannibal 50 (1779) – captured by France 1782
    • Jupiter 50 (1778) – wrecked 1808, with no loss of life, in Vigo Bay[6]
    • Leander 50 (1780) – captured by France 1798, captured by Russia 1799, returned to Britain, converted to hospital ship 1806, renamed Hygeia 1813, sold 1817
    • Adamant 50 (1780) – broken up 1814
    • Assistance 50 (1781) – wrecked 1802 on the outer banks of the northern part of Dunkirk Dyke due to the ignorance of her Pilot, but with no loss of life due to the help of a Flemish Pilot boat[6]
    • Europa 50 (1783) – sold 1814
  • Experiment class (Williams)
    • Experiment 50 (1774) – captured by France 1779
    • Medusa 50 (1785) – wrecked 1798
  • Grampus class (Hunt)
    • Grampus 50 (1782) – broken up 1794
    • Cato 50 (1782) – disappeared 1782
  • Trusty class (Hunt)
    • Trusty 50 (1782) – broken up 1815

Captured ships

  • Alcide 64 (1743, ex-French Alcide, captured 1755); sold 1772
  • Lys 64 (1746, ex-French Lys, captured 1755)
  • Duc d'Aquitaine 64 (1754, ex-French Duc d'Aquitaine, captured 1757)
  • Foudroyant 80 (1750, ex-French Foudroyant, captured 1758); broken up 1787
  • Raisonnable 64 (1756, ex-French Rainsonnable, captured 1758); lost 1762
  • Bienfaisant 64 (1754, ex-French Bienfaisant, captured 1758); broken up 1814
  • Belliqueux 64 (1756, ex-French Belliqueux, captured 1758); broken up 1772
  • Modeste 64 (1759, ex-French Modeste, captured 1759); broken up 1800
  • Centaur 74 (1757, ex-French Centaure, captured 1759); foundered 1782 with the loss of most of her crew
  • Temeraire 74 (1749, ex-French Téméraire, captured 1759); sold 1784
  • Formidable 80 (1751, ex-French Formidable, captured 1759); broken up 1768
  • Courageux 74 (1753, ex-French Courageux, captured 1761)
  • Belleisle 64 (1760, ex-French Belleisle, captured 1761); sold 1819
  • Saint Ann 64 (1759, ex-French Saint Ann, captured 1761)
  • San Antonio 70 (1761, ex-Spanish San Antonio, captured 1762); sold 1775
  • Prince William 64 (ex-Spanish Guipuscoana, captured 1780)
  • Gibraltar 80 (1749, ex-Spanish Fenix, captured 1780) – broken up 1836
  • Princessa 70 (1750, ex-Spanish Princessa, captured 1780)
  • Monarca 70 (1756, ex-Spanish Monarca, captured 1780)
  • Diligent 70 (1756, ex-Spanish Diligente, captured 1780)
  • San Miguel 70 (1773, ex-Spanish San Miguel, captured 1780)
  • Prothee 64 (1772, ex-French Protée, captured 1780)
  • Princess Caroline (ex-Dutch, captured 1780) – Scuttled 1799
  • Rotterdam 50 (ex-Dutch, captured 1781) – sold 1806
  • Caesar 74 (ex-French César, captured 1782) – Blew up 1782
  • Hector 74 (1755, ex-French Hector, captured 1782)
  • Glorieux 74 (1756, ex-French Glorieux, captured 1782)
  • Pegase 74 (1781, ex-French Glorieux, captured 1782)
  • Caton 64 (1777, ex-French Caton, captured 1782)
  • Argonaut 64 (1779, ex-French Jason, captured 1782)
  • Solitaire 64 (1774, ex-French Solitaire, captured 1782)

List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1785–1830)

First rates of 120 guns (three-deckers)

  • Caledonia class (Rule)
    • Caledonia 120 (1808) – renamed Dreadnought, broken up 1875
    • Britannia 120 (1820) – broken up 1869
    • Prince Regent 120 (1823) – converted to screw, broken up 1873
    • Royal George 120 (1827) – converted to screw, broken up 1875
  • Nelson class ('Surveyors' = Rule & Peake)
    • Nelson 120 (1814) – 1859-60 cut down to 91-gun 2-decker and converted to screw, 1867 given to New South Wales Government and fitted as school ship, 1898 sold, 1928 broken up. No sea service as either sail or steam line-of-battle ship.
    • Saint Vincent 120 (1815) – sold 1906
    • Howe 120 (1815) – broken up 1854
  • Saint George class – broadened version of Caledonia
    • Saint George 120 (1840) – sold 1883
    • Royal William 120 (1833) – laid down as 120-gunner. Burnt 1899
    • Neptune 120 (1832) – cut down to 2-decker and converted to 2-decker steam line-of-battle ship 1859, broken up 1875,
    • Waterloo 120 (1833) – cut down to an 89 gun 2-decker and converted to steam in 1859, and was renamed Conqueror in 1862. In 1877 she was renamed Warspite and served as a training ship at Greenhithe/Woolwich. She burned accidentally in 1918.
    • Trafalgar 120 (1841) – laid down as 106-gunner. Sold 1906

First rates of 110 guns (three-deckers)

First rates of 100/104 guns (three-deckers) – later rated as 110 guns

  • Impregnable class (Rule)
    • Impregnable 104 (1810) – harbour flagship Plymouth 1839, hulked as training ship 1862, renamed Kent 1883, renamed Caledonia 1891, sold 1906
  • Trafalgar class (Rule) – modified Impregnable
    • Trafalgar 100 (1820) – renamed Camperdown 1825, hulked as coal deport Portsmouth 1860, Renamed Pitt 1882, sold 1906
  • Princess Charlotte class (Rule) – modified Impregnable
    • Princess Charlotte 104 (1825) – hulked as floating barracks Hong Kong 1857, sold 1875
    • Royal Adelaide 104 (1828) – ex-London, 1869 hulked as flag and receiving ship Plymouth, to Chatham 1891, sold 1905

Second rates of 98 guns (three-deckers)

Second rates of 90/92 guns (two-deckers)

  • Rodney class (Seppings)
    • Rodney 92 (1833) – converted to screw 1860, broken up 1882
    • Nile 92 (1839) – converted to screw 1854, destroyed by fire 1956
    • London 92 (1840) – converted to screw 1858, sold 1884

Second rates of 84 guns (two-deckers)

Third rates of 80 guns (two-deckers)

  • Foudroyant class (Henslow)
    • Foudroyant 80 (1798) – hulked as gunnery training ship Plymouth 1861, sold to Wheatley Cobb as boys training ship, wrecked on Blackpool Sands whilst on a fund raising and propaganda tour[6]
  • Rochfort class (Barrallier)
  • Waterloo class (Peake)
    • Waterloo 80 (1818) – renamed Bellerophon 1824, became receiving ship Plymouth, sold 1892
  • Cambridge class – lines of Danish Christian VII taken 1807
    • Cambridge 80 (1815) – later classed as 82, hulked as gunnery training ship Plymouth 1856, broken up 1869
  • Indus class – enlarged lines of Danish Christian VII taken 1807
    • Indus 80 (1839) – hulked 1860 as harbour flagship Plymouth, sold for breaking 1898
  • Hindostan class – enlarged lines of Repulse
    • Hindostan 80 (1841) – hulked 1884 as cadet training ship at Dartmouth, training ship for boy artificers at Portsmouth renamed Fishgard III 1905, sold for breaking up 1921

Third rates of 74 guns (two-deckers)

  • Brunswick class ('Admiralty')
    • Brunswick 74 (1790) – hulked as prison ship Chatham 1812, powder magazine 1814, lazaretto Sheerness 1825, broken up 1826 [11]
  • Mars class (Henslow)
    • Mars 74 (1794) – hulked as receiving ship Portsmouth 1814, broken up 1819 [11]
    • Centaur 74 (1797) – broken up 1819 [11]
  • Courageux class (Henslow)
    • Courageux 74 (1800) – hulked as lazaretto Chatham 1814, broken up 1832 [11]
  • Plantagenet class (Rule)
  • Bulwark class (Rule)
    • Bulwark 74 (1807) – ex-Scipio, broken up 1826 [12]
    • Valiant – ordered 1826, but not started [13]
  • Ajax class [14] – modified version of 1757 Valiant class
    • Ajax 74 (1798) – accidentally burnt off Tenedos 11 Feb 1807 [13][6]
    • Kent 74 (1798) – sheer hulk at Plymouth 1857, broken up 1881 [13]
  • Conqueror class (Henslow) – modified Mars class
  • Dragon class (Rule)
    • Dragon 74 (1798) – lazaretto at Pembroke 1824, receiving ship and marine barracks 1832, renamed Fame 1842, broken up 1850 [13]
  • Northumberland class – lines of French Impetueux taken 1794
    • Northumberland 74 (1798) – lazaretto at Sheerness 1827, broken up 1850 [13]
    • Renown 74 (1798) – hospital ship Plymouth 1814, later to Deptford(?), broken up 1835(?) [13]
  • Spencer class (Barralier)
  • Achille class – lines of French Pompée taken 1793
  • Revenge class – lines of French Impetueux taken 1794
  • Milford class – lines of French Impetueux taken 1794
    • Milford 74 (1806) – lazaretto at Pembroke 1825, broken up 1846 [15]
    • Princess Amelia 74 (-) – keel laid 1 Jan 1799, cancelled March 1800 [16]
  • Colossus class (Henslow)
    • Colossus 74 (1803) – broken up 1826 [17]
    • Warspite 74 (1807) – cut down to 50 gun frigate 1840, hulked 1862 and lent to Marine Society as training ship, accidentally burnt at Woolwich 1876 [17],ref name=Gossett/>
  • Fame/Hero class (Henslow)
    • Fame 74 (1805) – broken up 1817 [17]
    • Albion 74 (1802) – lazaretto Portsmouth 1831, broken up 1836 [17]
    • Hero 74 (1803) – wrecked on the Haak Islands 25 Dec 1811 [17]
    • Illustrious 74 (1803) – hulked as ordinary guard ship Plymouth 1848, hospital ship 1853, reverted to ordinary guard ship 1859, broken up 1868 [17]
    • Marlborough 74 (1807) – broken up 1835 [17]
    • York 74 (1807) – hulked as convict ship Portsmouth 1819, broken up 1835 [17]
    • Hannibal 74 (1810) – lazaretto Plymouth 1825, later to Pembroke(?), broken up 1834 [17]
    • Sultan 74 (1807) – hulked as receiving ship Portsmouth 1861, target ship 1862, broken up 1864 [17]
    • Royal Oak 74 (1809) – hulked as receiving ship Bermuda 1825, broken up 1850 [17]
  • Modified Carnatic class (derived from prize Courageux, taken from the French 1761)
    • Aboukir 74 (1807) – hulked 1824, sold 1838.
    • Bombay 74 (1808) – renamed Blake 1819, hulked 1823, broken up 1855.
  • Swiftsure class (Henslow)
    • Swiftsure 74 (1804) – hulked as receiving ship Portsmouth 1819, broken up 1845 [18]
    • Victorious 74 (1804) – hulked as receiving ship Portsmouth 1826, broken up 1861 [18]
  • Repulse class (Rule) – Talavera structurally different
    • Repulse 74 (1803) – broken up 1820 [18]
    • Eagle 74 (1804) – cut down as 50-gun frigate 1831, hulked at Falmouth for the Coastguard 1857, training ship in Southampton Water 1860, to Liverpool 1862, Mersey Division RNVR 1910, renamed Eaglet 1918, burnt 1926, wreck sold for breaking 1927 [18]
    • Sceptre 74 (1802) – broken up 1821 [18]
    • Magnificent 74 (1806) – hulked as receiving ship Jamaica 1823, sold 1843 [18]
    • Valiant 74 (1807) – broken up 1823 [18]
    • Elizabeth 74 (1807) – broken up 1820 [18]
    • Cumberland 74 (1807) – hulked as convict ship and coal deport Chatham, renamed Fortitude 1833, to Sheerness as coal deport by 1856, sold 1870 [18]
    • Venerable 74 (1808) – hulked as church ship Portsmouth, broken up 1838 [18]
    • Talavera 74 (1818) – timbered according to Seppings' principle using smaller timbers than usual. Accidentally burnt at Plymouth Oct 1840, then broken up [18][6]
    • Belleisle 74 (1819) – troopship 1841, hulked as hospital ship Sheerness 1854, lent to the seaman's hospital at Greenwich 1866-68, broken up 1872 [18]
    • Malabar 74 (1818) – hulked as coal deport Portsmouth 1848, renamed Myrtle 1883, sold 1905 [18]
  • Blake class – lengthened Leviathan class
  • Armada class. The most numerous class of British capital ships ever built, with forty vessels being completed to this design (they were popularly known as the "Forty Thieves").
    • Armada 74 (1810) – sold 1863 [19]
    • Cressy 74 (1810) – 1827 planned to be converted to 50-gun frigate but instead broken up 1832 [19]
    • Vigo 74 (1810) – hulked at receiving ship Plymouth, broken up 1865 [19]
    • Vengeur 74 (1810) – hulked as receiving ship 1824, broken up 1843 [19][20]
    • Ajax (1809) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship, 1847, broken up 1864 [19]
    • Conquestador 74 (1810) – cut down to 50 gun frigate 1831, hulked War Office powder depot at Purfleet 1856, powder depot Plymouth 1863, sold 1897 [19]
    • Poictiers 74 (1809) – broken up 1857 [19]
    • Berwick 74 (1809) – broken up 1821 [19]
    • Egmont 74 (1810) – hulked as storeship Rio de Janeiro 1863, sold 1875[19]
    • Clarence 74 (1812) – renamed Centurion 1826 and planned to be converted to 50-gun frigate but instead broken up 1828 [19]
    • Edinburgh 74 (1811) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1852, sold 1866 [19]
    • America 74 (1810) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1835, hulked 1864, broken up 1867 [19][20]
    • Scarborough 74 (1812) – sold 1836 [19]
    • Asia (1811) – renamed Alfred, cut down to 50-gun frigate 1828, hulked as gunnery trials ship Portsmouth 1858, broken up 1865 [19]
    • Mulgrave 74 (1812) – hulked as a lazaretto Pembroke 1836, powder ship 1844, broken up 1854 [19]
    • Anson 74 (1812) – hulked as temporary lazaretto Portsmouth 1831, by 1843 to Chatham and then to Tasmania as a convict ship, broken up 1851 [19]
    • Gloucester 74 (1812) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1835, hulked as receiving ship Chatham 1861, sold 1884 [19]
    • Rodney 74 (1809) – renamed Greenwich 1827 and cut down to 50-gun frigate, but conversion probably never completed, sold 1836 [19]
    • Hogue 74 (1811) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1848, broken up 1865 [19]
    • Dublin 74 (1812) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1836, laid up 1845, sold 1885 [19]
    • Barham 74 (1811) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1836, broken up 1840 [19]
    • Benbow 74 (1813) – hulked as marine barracks Sheerness 1848, prison ship for Russians 1854, coal deport 1859, sold for breaking 1894 [19]
    • Stirling Castle 74 (1811) – hulked as convict ship Plymouth 1839, to Portsmouth 1844, broken up 1861 [19]
    • Vindictive 74 (1813) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1833, hulked as depot ship Fernando Po 1862, sold 1871 [19]
    • Blenheim (1813) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1847, hulked at Portsmouth, broken up 1865 [19]
    • Duncan 74 (1811) – hulked as lazaretto Portsmouth 1826, to Sheerness 1831, broken up 1863 [19]
    • Rippon 74 (1812) – broken up 1821 [19]
    • Medway 74 (1812) – hulked as convict ship Bermuda 1847, sold 1865 [19]
    • Cornwall 74 (1812) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1830, hulked and lent to London School Ship Society as reformatory 1859, to the Tyne as Wellesley hulk 1868, broken up 1875 [19]
    • Pembroke (1812) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1855, hulked as base ship Chatham 1873, renamed Forte 1890 as receiving hulk, then Pembroke again 1891, sold 1905 [19][21]
    • Indus (1812) – renamed Bellona 1818, hulked as receiving ship Plymouth 1842, broken up 1868 [19]
    • Redoubtable 74 (1815) – broken up 1841 [19]
    • Devonshire 74 (1812) – hulked and lent to Greenwich Seamen's Hospital as temporary hospital ship 1849, to Sheerness as prison ship for Russians 1854, school ship in Queensborough Swale 1860, broken up 1869 [19]
    • Defence 74 (1815) – hulked as convict ship Woolwich 1848, burnt and broken up 1857 [19][6]
    • Hercules 74 (1815) – troopship 1838, emigrant ship 1852, hulked as army depot ship Hong Kong after 1853, sold 1865 [19]
    • Agincourt (1817) – hulked as training ship at Plymouth after 1848, renamed Vigo 1865, cholera hospital ship 1866, receiving ship at Plymouth 1870, sold 1884, broken up 1885 [19]
    • Pitt 74 (1816) – hulked as coal deport and receiving ship at Plymouth 1853, to Portland 1860, later back to Portsmouth, broken up 1877[19]
    • Wellington (1816) – ex-Hero, hulked as receiving and depot ship Sheerness 1848, to Coastguard Sheerness 1857, to Liverpool Juvenile Reformatory Association Ltd as training ship and renamed Akbar, sold for breaking 1908[19]
    • Russell 74 (1822) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1854-55, coastguard ship Sheerness 1858, broken up 1865 [19]
    • Akbar 74 (-) – keel laid 4 Apr 1807, cancelled 12 Oct 1809. Uncertain whether she was of this class [19]
  • Cornwallis class – teak-built versions of Armada class
    • Cornwallis 74 (1813) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1854-55, hulked as a jetty at Sheerness 1865, renamed Wildfire 1916 as base ship, broken up 1957 [16]
    • Wellesley 74 (1815) – hulked as harbour flagship and receiving ship at Chatham 1862,to Purfleet for the London School Ship Society as a reformatory and renamed Cornwall 1868, sunk by the Luftwaffe 1940 (the only ship-of-the-line ever to be sunk in an air attack) [16]
    • Carnatic 74 (1823) – hulked as coal deport Portsmouth 1860, floating magazine for the War Office 1886, returned to the Admiralty 1891, sold 1914 [16][22]
  • Black Prince class Note that, while Wellesley belonged officially to this class, plans meant for her construction were lost in 1812 when aboard the Java which was captured by the Americans; so she was actually built to the lines of the Cornwallis (see above).
    • Black Prince 74 (1816) – broken up 1855 [16]
    • Melville 74 (1817) – hulked as hospital ship Hong Kong 1857, sold 1873 [16]
    • Hawke 74 (1820) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1854-55, broken up 1865 [16]
  • Chatham class – design used captured frames of Franco-Dutch Royal Hollondais
  • Hastings class – purchased from East India Company in 1819
    • Hastings 74 (1819) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1855, Coastguard 1857, coal hulk 1870, sold 1885 [23]
  • Class uncertain
    • Augusta(?) 74 (-) – keel laid 1806(?), cancelled 1810(?) [16]

Third rates of 72 guns (two-deckers)

  • Imaun class – gift to the RN from the Imam of Muscat 1836
    • Imaun 70 (1826) – hulked at Jamaica as receiving ship 1842, broken up 1862/66 [23]

Fourth rates of 50 guns (two-deckers)

  • Antelope class (Henslow)
  • Diomede class (Henslow) – probably a variant of Antelope
  • Jupiter class
  • modified Jupiter class

Converted East Indiamen

  • Calcutta – launched in 1788 as Warley; purchased in 1795; captured by France 1805
  • Grampus – launched in 1787 as Ceres; purchased in 1795; grounded in 1799 on the Barking shelf near Woolwich through the ignorance of the pilot and abandoned with no loss of life
  • Hindostan – launched in 1789 as Hindostan; purchased in 1795; lost in a fire at sea in 1804
  • Abergavenny – launched as Earl of Abergavenny in 1789; purchased in 1795; sold 1807
  • Malabar – launched as Royal Charlotte in 1789; purchased in 1795; foundered 1796 on a passage from the West Indies with her crew being taken off by the Martha of Whitby
  • Glatton – launched as Glatton in 1792; purchased in 1795; scuttled 1830
  • Coromandel – built as Winterton; purchased and launched in 1795; sold 1813
  • Madras – built as Lascelles; purchased and launched in 1795; sold 1807
  • Weymouth – built as Earl Mansfield; purchased and launched in 1795; wrecked, with no loss of life, in 1800 on the Lisbon Bar while going into Lisbon
  • Malabar – launched in 1798 as Cuvera; purchased in 1804; renamed Coromandel in 1815; broken up in 1853
  • Hindostan – launched 1798 as Admiral Rainier; purchased in 1804; renamed Dolphin in 1819; renamed Justitia in 1831; sold 1855

Captures of the Revolutionary War

French ships

  • Commerce de Marseilles 120 (1788) – ex-French, captured 29 Aug 1793, prison ship by 1800, sold 1802 [24]
  • Pompée 74 (1791) – ex-French, captured 29 Aug 1793, broken up 1817 [24]
  • Juste 80 (1784) – ex-French, captured Glorious First of June in 1794, broken up 1811 [24]
  • Ca Ira 80 (1784) – ex-French, captured Glorious First of June in 1794, Burnt by accident 11 April 1896.
  • Sans Pareil 80 (1793) – ex-French, captured Glorious First of June in 1794, sheer hulk 1810, broken up 1842 [24]
  • Impétueux 74 (1788) – ex-French America, captured Glorious First of June in 1794, broken up 1813 [24]
  • Le Tigre' 80 (1793) – ex-French, captured 23 Jun 1795, broken up 1817 [24]
  • Belleisle 74 (1788) – ex-French Formidable, captured 23 Jun 1795, fought at Trafalgar, broken up 1814 [24]
  • L'Hercule 84 (1797) – ex-French, captured 11 Oct 1797, fitted as troopship 1799, powder hulk 1802, sunk as breakwater 1822.
  • Canopus 80 (1797) – ex-French Franklin, captured 1 Aug 1798, harbour service 1863, sold 1887 [24]
  • Tonnant 80 (1789) – ex-French captured 1 Aug 1798, broken up 1821
  • Spartiate 80 (1794) – ex-French Spartiate, sheer hulk 1842, broken up 1857
  • Donegal 76 (1794) – ex-French Hoche captured 12 Oct 1798, broken up 1845
  • Guerrier (1754) – ex-French Guerrière, captured 2 Aug 1798, broken up 1810.
  • Genereux (1785) 74 (1785) – ex-French, captured 18 Feb 1800, prison ship 1805, broken up 1816 [24]
  • Malta (1795) 84 (1795) – ex-French Guillaume Tell, captured 30 Mar 1800, harbour service 1831, broken up 1840 [24]
  • Athenienne (1800) 64 (1800) – ex-French Athenien ex-Maltese, captured 30 Aug 1798, wrecked 1806 [24]

Dutch ships

  • Overyssel 64 – captured 22 October 1795, hulk 1810, sold 1882 [24]
  • Zealand 64 – captured 19 January 1796, harbour service 1803, sold 1830 [24]
Captured at the Battle of Saldahna Bay, 17 August 1796
Captured at the Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797
  • Vryheid 70 – prison ship 1798, powder hulk 1802, sold 1811.
  • Camperdown 70 – ex-Dutch Jupiter, prison ship 1798, powder hulk 1802, sold 1817.
  • Gelykheid 64/68 – guardship 1803, sheer hulk 1807, disposed of in 1814.
  • Admiral De Vries 64 – harbour service 1800, sold 1806 [24]
  • Haarlem 64 – harbour service 1811, sold 1816 [24]
  • Wassenar 64 – hulk 1804, sold 1818 [24]
Captured at the Vlieter Incident, 30 August 1799

Spanish ships

Captured Dutch fourth-rate two-deckers

Note the six Dutch ships above were 54-gun ships, and thus classed by the British Navy as Fourth rate two-deckers, and not as ships of the line.

Captures of the Napoleonic War

  • French 80-gun ships of Le Tonnant class:[citation needed]
  • French 74-gun ships of Le Téméraire class:
    • Duquesne 74 (1788) – ex-French Le Duquesne, captured 25 Jul 1803, stranded 1804, broken up 1805 [25]
    • Implacable 74 (1800) – ex-French Le Duguay-Trouin, captured 4 Nov 1805, training ship 1805, scuttled 1949 [25]
    • Mont Blanc 74 (1791) – ex-French Le Mont Blanc, captured 4 Nov 1805, hulk 1811, sold 1819 [25]
    • Scipion 74 (1801) – ex-French Le Scipion, captured 4 Nov 1805, broken up 1819 [25]
    • Brave 74 (1795) – ex-French Le Brave, captured 6 Feb 1806, foundered 1806 [25]
    • Maida 74 (1795) – ex-French Le Jupiter, captured 6 Feb 1806), sold 1814 [25]
    • Marengo 74 (1795) – ex-French Le Marengo, captured 1806, broken up 1816 [citation needed]
    • Abercrombie 74 (1807) – ex-French Le d'Hautpoult, captured 7 Sep 1809, sold 1817 [26]
    • Genoa (ex-French Le Brillant, captured 1814 on stocks) – broken up 1838 [citation needed]
  • French 74-gun ship of Le Pluton class:
    • Rivoli 74 (1810) – ex-French Le Rivoli, captured 22 Feb 1812, broken up 1819 [26]
  • Spanish 74-gun ship of San Juan Nepomuceno class:

Danish ships captured at the Battle of Copenhagen (1807)

List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1830–1847)

Captain Sir William Symonds served as Surveyor of the Navy from 1832 to 1847. Captain Symonds was a naval officer and yacht designer, "who had risen to prominence by his success in competitive sailing trials between small warships. His selection implied a criticism of the dockyard-trained architects of the preceding 200 years".[27] Symonds attempted a revolution in warship design. His ships were designed to be faster under sail, and have more room for the gunners to work the guns (improving ergonomics). To achieve this, his ships were larger, and used a different hull form to provide stability without needing large amounts of ballast. Unfortunately the Surveyor's department was understaffed for the amount of work they were undertaking, and mistakes were made. Symonds' designs had more stability than was desirable, with the result that they rolled excessively and therefore were poor gun platforms. Another problem with Symonds' ships was that they were very sensitive to the distribution of weights on board ship, such as the stores carried and consumed on a voyage.[27][28]

Symonds worked very closely with John Edye, an experienced and well-educated shipwright officer. Edye was responsible for the details of structure and construction. The ships that Symonds and Edye designed had far more iron in their structure than the previous generation of ships designed by Seppings.[28]

First rates of 120 guns (three-deckers)

  • Royal Albert class (Lang) 3-decker, 120 guns
  • Duke of Wellington class (Surveyors Department) improved Queen, 3-deckers, 120 guns

First rates of 110 guns (three-deckers)

  • Queen class (Symonds & Edye) 3-decker 110 guns
    • Queen 116 (1839) – ex-Royal Frederick, laid down 1833, converted to screw 2-decker 1858-9 [29][32]
    • Victoria 116 (1858) – laid down 1844, renamed Windsor Castle 1855, converted to screw 1857-8 [29][33]
    • Frederick William 116 (1860) – ex-Royal Frederick, laid down 1841, converted to screw 2-decker 1859-60 [29][32]
    • Algiers – ordered 1833, but not begun, cancelled 11 Dec 1834. [34]
    • Royal Sovereign – ordered 1832, probably not begun, cancelled 1838.[34]

Second rates of 90 guns (two-deckers)

  • Albion class (Symonds & Edye)
    • Albion 90 (1842) – laid down 1839. A design error led to the main deck in Albion being unusually low.[35] converted to screw 1860-1 [34][36]
    • Aboukir 91 (1848) – laid down 1840, converted to screw 1856-8 [34][36]
    • Exmouth 91 (1854) – laid down 1841, converted to screw 1853-4 [34][36]
    • Saint Jean D'Acre – ordered 1844 but not begun, cancelled 1845 [34]
    • Hannibal – ordered 1839, probably not begun, cancelled 1846 [34]
  • Princess Royal class (Edye) modified Albion class
  • Algiers class (Edye or Committee of Reference) modified Albion class
  • Caesar class (Committee of Reference) modified Rodney class
    • Caesar 91 (1853) – laid down 1848, converted to screw 1852-3 [38][39]

Second rates of 80 guns (two-deckers)

  • Vanguard class (Symonds & Edye)
    • Vanguard 78 (1835) – laid down 1833, broken up 1875 [38]
    • Goliath 80 (1842) – laid down 1834, converted to screw 1856-7 [38][40]
    • Superb 80 (1842) – laid down 1838, lent as accommodation ship for Turkish naval crews of ships building on the Thames 1864, by 1866 returned to ordinary reserve, broken up 1869 [38]
    • Meeanee 60 (1848) – ex-Madras, laid down 1841, converted to screw 1852-3 [38][40]
    • Collingwood 80 (1841) – laid down 1835, converted to screw 1860-1 [38][40]
    • Centurion 80 (1844) – laid down 1839, converted to screw 1854-5 [38][40]
    • Mars 80 (1848) – laid down 18395, converted to screw 1855-6 [38][40]
    • Lion 80 (1847) – laid down 1840, converted to screw 1858-9 [38][40]
    • Majestic 80 (1853) – laid down 1841, converted to screw 1852-3 [38][40]
    • Colossus 80 (1848) – laid down 1843, converted to screw 1854-5 [38][40]
    • Irresistible 80 (1859) – laid down 1849, converted to screw 1855-9 [38][40]
  • Modified Vanguard class (Admiralty alteration of Symonds & Edye design)
  • Orion class (Edye & Watts)
    • Orion 80 (1854) – laid down 1850, converted to screw 91-guns 1852-4 [41][33]
    • Hood 80 (1859) – laid down 1849, converted to screw 91-guns 1856-9 [41][33]
    • Edgar 80 (-) never laid down [41][33]

Third rates of 70 guns (two-deckers)

  • Boscawen class (Symonds & Edye)
    • Boscawen 70 (1844) – built from frames originally made for another ship, drill ship at Southampton 1862, to the Tyne as a hulk 1874 and renamed Wellesley, burnt and broken up 1914 [41]
    • Cumberland 70 (1842) – laid down 1836, sheer hulk at Sheerness 1863, training ship in the Clyde for the Clyde Industrial Training Ship Association 1869, destroyed by fire 1889 [41]

List of unarmoured steam ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1847-61)

Ships have been listed by class as in Lambert.[43]

Ships converted to steam ships-of-the-line

  • Duke of Wellington class 3-deckers, 131 guns
    • Duke of Wellington 131 (1852) – ex-Windsor Castle, laid down 1849, converted to screw 1852, receiving ship Portsmouth 1863, sold 1902 for broken up [29][31]
    • Marlborough 131 (1855) – laid down 1850, converted to screw 1853-5, receiving ship Portsmouth 1878, renamed Vernon II 1904, sold 1824, capsized off Brighton while on tow to the breakers Oct 1924 [29][31]
    • Royal Sovereign 121 (1857) – laid down 1849, converted to screw 1855-57, converted to turret ship 1864, sold for breaking 1885 [29]
    • Prince of Wales 121 (1860) – laid down 1848, converted to screw 1856-60, renamed Britannia to replace original ship of that name as training ship for boys in the river Dart 1869, hulked 1909, sold for breaking 1914 [29][31]
  • Royal Albert class (Lang) 3-decker, 121 guns
    • Royal Albert 121 (1854) – laid down 1844, converted to screw 1852-4, sold 1883 for broken up [29][30]
  • Windsor Castle class 3-decker, 102 guns, laid down as Queen class 116 guns
    • Windsor Castle 102 (1858) – ex-Victoria, laid down 1844, converted to screw 1857-8, no sea-service, renamed Cambridge and hulked as gunnery training ship Devonport 1869, sold 1908 [29][33]
  • Orion class 2-deckers, 91 guns, laid down as 80 gun ships
    • Orion 91 (1854) – broken up 1867
    • Hood 91 (1859) – sold 1888/1904
    • Edgar 80 (-) – never laid down
  • Caesar class 2-decker, 91 guns
    • Caesar 91 (1853) – sold 1870
  • Algiers class 2-decker, 91 guns, improved Albion class
  • Princess Royal class 2-deckers, 91 guns, laid down as Albion class
  • Rodney class 2-deckers, 91 guns
    • Rodney 91 (1833) – converted to screw 1860, broken up 1882
    • Nile 91 (1839) – converted to screw 1854, burnt 1956
    • London 91 (1840) – converted to screw 1858, sold 1884
  • Nelson class 2-decker, 91 guns, originally Nelson class 3-decker 120 guns
    • Nelson 91 (1814) – laid down as 120-gunner. Converted to steam and cut down to 2-decker 1859-60. Fitted as schoolship for New South Wales 1867. Sold 1898. Broken up 1928. No service as sail or steam line-of-battle ship
  • Royal George class 2-deckers, 89 guns, originally Caledonia class 3-decker 120 guns
    • Prince Regent 89 (1823) – cut down to 92-gun 2-decker 1841-7, converted to screw 1860-61, broken up 1873
    • Royal George 89 (1827) – converted to steam 120-gun 3-decker 1852-53, poop and forecastle removed December 1854, making her 102-gun 3-decker, cut down to 89-gun 2-decker 1860, sold 1875
  • Saint George class 2-deckers, 89 guns, originally broadened Caledonia class 3-decker 120 guns
    • St George 89 (1840) – sold 1883
    • Royal William 89 (1833) – burnt 1899
    • Neptune 89 (1827) – sold 1875
    • Waterloo 120 (1833) – converted 1859, renamed Conqueror 1862, renamed Warspite 1877 and served as a training ship at Greenhithe/Woolwich. Burnt 1918.
    • Trafalgar 91 (1841) – sold 1906
  • Albion class 2-deckers, 91 guns, originally Albion class 2-deckers 90 guns
    • Albion 91 (1842) – converted to screw 1861, broken up 1884
    • Aboukir 91 (1848) – sold 1878
    • Exmouth 91 (1854) – sold 1905
  • Queen class 2-deckers, 86 guns, originally Queen class 3-decker 120 guns
    • Queen 86 (1839) – converted to screw 2-decker 1858-9, broken up 1871 [29][32]
    • Frederick William 86 (1860) – converted to screw 2-decker 1859-60, renamed Worcester 1876 and became training ship at Greenhithe for the Thames Marine Officers Training Society, sold 1948, foundered 1948, raised and broken up 1953 [29][32]
  • Cressy class 2-decker, 80 guns
    • Cressy 80 (1853) – sold 1867
  • Majestic class 2-deckers, 80 guns, originally Vanguard class 2-deckers 80 guns
    • Goliath 80 (1842) – converted to screw 1857, burnt 1875
    • Collingwood 80 (1841) – converted to screw 1861, sold 1867
    • Centurion 80 (1844) – converted to screw 1855/56, sold 1870
    • Mars 80 (1848) – converted to screw 1855, sold 1929
    • Lion 80 (1847) – converted to screw 1859, sold 1905
    • Majestic 80 (1853) – broken up 1868
    • Meeanee 80 (1848) – laid down as Madras 80. Converted to screw 1857, broken up 1906
    • Colossus 80 (1848) – converted to screw 1854, sold 1867
    • Brunswick 80 (1855) – sold 1867
    • Irresistible 80 (1859) – sold 1894
  • Bombay class 2-decker, 80 guns, ex-Canopus class
    • Bombay 84 (1828) – converted to screw 1861, burnt 1864
  • Sans Pareil class 2-decker, 70 guns
  • Blenheim class 2-deckers, 60 guns blockships, ex-74s
    • Ajax 60 (1809) – ex-74, converted to 60-gun screw blockship, 1847, broken up 1864 [19]
    • Blenheim 60 (1813) – ex-74, converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1847, hulked at Portsmouth, broken up 1865 [19]
    • Edinburgh 60 (1811) – ex-74, converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1852, sold 1866 [19]
    • Hogue 60 (1811) – ex-74, converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1848, broken up 1865 [19]
  • Cornwallis class 2-deckers, 60 guns blockships, ex-74s
    • Cornwallis 60 (1813) – ex-74, converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1854-55, hulked as a jetty at Sheerness 1865, renamed Wildfire 1916 as base ship, broken up 1957 [16]
    • Hastings 60 (1819) – ex-74, purchased from East India Company in 1819, converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1855, Coastguard 1857, coal hulk 1870, sold 1885 [23]
    • Hawke 60 (1820) – ex-74, converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1854-55, broken up 1865 [16]
    • Pembroke 60 (1812) – ex-74, converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1855, hulked as base ship Chatham 1873, renamed Forte 1890 as receiving hulk, then Pembroke again 1891, sold 1905 [19][21]
    • Russell 60 (1822) – ex-74, converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1854-55, coastguard ship Sheerness 1858, broken up 1865 [19]

Ships laid down as steam ships-of-the-line

  • Victoria class, 3-deckers, 121 guns
    • Victoria 121 (1859) – sold 1892
    • Howe 110 (1860) – renamed Impregnable. sold 1921
  • Saint Jean D'Acre class 2-decker, 101 guns
  • Agamemnon class 2-decker, 91 guns
  • Renown class 2-deckers, 91 guns
    • Revenge 91 (1859) – broken up 1923
    • Renown 91 (1857) – sold 1870
    • Atlas 91 (1860) – broken up 1904
    • Anson 91 (1860) – broken up 1904
  • Defiance class 2-decker, 91 guns

List of ironclad warships of the Royal Navy (1860–1882)

Sea-going ironclads (1860–1882)

Coastal service ironclads

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Rating system of the Royal Navy
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Frigates
Unrated
Sloop-of-war  · Gun-brig  · Cutter

Notes

  1. ↑ Rif Winfield's British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1714 – 1792. p.33
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 p76, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  3. ↑ Colledge, p. 67
  4. ↑ Quoted as 14 May 1747 (i.e. [Gregorian calendar]) p175 Lavery The Ship of the Line Volume I
  5. ↑ p62-63 Lyon The Sailing Navy List, p175 Lavery The Ship of the Line Volume I, HMS Victory.com
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 Gossett (1896)
  7. ↑ p64 Lyon The Sailing Navy List
    The date of breaking up quoted in Lavery is wrong. p175 Lavery The Ship of the Line Volume I, HMS Victory.com
  8. ↑ Winfield, Rif British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792
  9. ↑ p115, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  10. ↑ p111, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 p109, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  12. ↑ p109, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  13. ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 p110, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  14. ↑ p110, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List calls this the Kent class
  15. ↑ p110-111, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  16. ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 p115, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  17. ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 p112, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  18. ↑ 18.00 18.01 18.02 18.03 18.04 18.05 18.06 18.07 18.08 18.09 18.10 18.11 18.12 18.13 18.14 p113, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  19. ↑ 19.00 19.01 19.02 19.03 19.04 19.05 19.06 19.07 19.08 19.09 19.10 19.11 19.12 19.13 19.14 19.15 19.16 19.17 19.18 19.19 19.20 19.21 19.22 19.23 19.24 19.25 19.26 19.27 19.28 19.29 19.30 19.31 19.32 19.33 19.34 19.35 19.36 19.37 19.38 19.39 19.40 19.41 19.42 19.43 19.44 19.45 p113-115, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 p188, Lavery, The Ship of the Line, Volume I
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 sold 1904 according to p139, Lambert, Battleships in Transition
  22. ↑ p191, Lavery, The Ship of the Line, Volume I
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 p292, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  24. ↑ 24.00 24.01 24.02 24.03 24.04 24.05 24.06 24.07 24.08 24.09 24.10 24.11 24.12 24.13 24.14 24.15 24.16 24.17 24.18 24.19 24.20 24.21 24.22 p186, Lavery, The Ship of the Line, Volume I
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 25.6 25.7 p189, Lavery, The Ship of the Line, Volume I
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 p190, Lavery, The Ship of the Line, Volume I
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 p15, Lambert Battleships in Transition
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 p66-87, Lambert The Last Sailing Battlefleet
  29. ↑ 29.00 29.01 29.02 29.03 29.04 29.05 29.06 29.07 29.08 29.09 29.10 29.11 29.12 29.13 29.14 29.15 p170, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 p128, Lambert, Battleships in Transition
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 31.6 p127-8, Lambert, Battleships in Transition
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 p135-6, Lambert Battleships in Transition
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 p129, Lambert Battleships in Transition
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 34.6 34.7 34.8 p171, Lyon, The Sailing Navy List
  35. ↑ p72, Lambert The last Sailing Battlefleet
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 p135, Lambert Battleships in Transition
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 p131, Lambert Battleships in Transition
  38. ↑ 38.00 38.01 38.02 38.03 38.04 38.05 38.06 38.07 38.08 38.09 38.10 38.11 38.12 p172, Lyon The Sailing Navy List
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 p130, Lambert Battleships in Transition
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 40.4 40.5 40.6 40.7 40.8 40.9 p137, Lambert Battleships in Transition
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 41.4 41.5 41.6 p173, Lyon The Sailing Navy List
  42. ↑ p138, Lambert Battleships in Transition
  43. ↑ Lambert, Andrew Battleships in Transition, the Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815-1860, published Conway Maritime Press, 1984. ISBN 0 85177 315 X

References

  • Chesnau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-83170-302-4
  • Gossett, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6. 
  • Lambert, Andrew Battleships in Transition, the Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815-1860, published Conway Maritime Press, 1984. ISBN 0-85177-315-X
  • Lambert, Andrew The Last Sailing Battlefleet, Maintaining Naval Mastery 1815-1850, published Conway Maritime Press, 1991. ISBN 0-85177-591-8
  • Lavery, Brian, The Ship of the Line Volume I, pub Conway Maritime Press, 1983, ISBN 0-85177-252-8
  • Lyon, David, The Sailing Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy – Built, Purchased and Captured 1688-1860, pub Conway Maritime Press, 1993, ISBN 0-85177-617-5
  • Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif, The Sail and Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889, pub Chatham, 2004, ISBN 1-86176-032-9
  • Parkes, Oscar British Battleships, first published Seeley Service & Co, 1957, published United States Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
  • Winfield, Rif, British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1603-1714 – Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, pub Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley (2009) ISBN 978-1-84832-040-6.
  • Winfield, Rif, British Warships of the Age of Sail: 1714-1792 – Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, pub Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley (2007) ISBN 978-1-86176-295-X.
  • Winfield, Rif, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817 – Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, pub Chatham Publishing, London (2005) ISBN 978-1-86176-246-1; (2nd edition) Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley (2008) ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.

For subsequent capital ships of the Royal Navy, please see List of battleships of the Royal Navy.

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