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.
Ships
editFirst batch
edit| 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] |
Second batch
editAdmiralty'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] |
Third batch
edit9 oak-built ships
- Active
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Thomas Stanton & Co, Rotherhithe.
- Keel laid: 13 June 1757
- Launched: 11 January 1758
- Completed: 2 March 1758 at Deptford Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken by the French Navy off San Domingo 1 September 1778.
- Aquilon
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Robert Inwood, Rotherhithe.
- Keel laid: 15 June 1757
- Launched: 25 May 1758
- Completed: 30 June 1758 at Deptford Dockyard.
- Fate: Sold at Deptford 29 November 1776.
- Cerberus
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Pleasant Fenn, East Cowes.
- Keel laid: 13 June 1757
- Launched: 5 September 1758
- Completed: 11 November 1758 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
- Fate: Burnt to prevent capture at Rhode Island 5 August 1778.
- Griffin
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Moody Janvrin, Bursledon.
- Keel laid: June 1757
- Launched: 18 October 1758
- Completed: 13 March 1759 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
- Fate: Wrecked off Barbuda 27 October 1761.
- Levant
- Ordered: 6 May 1757
- Built by: Henry Adams, Buckler's Hard.
- Keel laid: June 1757
- Launched: 6 July 1758
- Completed: 16 June 1759 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in September 1780.
- Argo
- Ordered: 19 September 1757
- Built by: Henry Bird, Rotherhithe.
- Keel laid: 22 September 1757
- Launched: 20 July 1758
- Completed: 29 January 1759 at Deptford Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in November 1776.
- Milford
- Ordered: 19 September 1757
- Built by: Richard Chitty, Milford.
- Keel laid: November 1757
- Launched: 20 September 1759
- Completed: 28 December 1759 at builder's shipyard.
- Fate: Sold at Woolwich Dockyard on 17 May 1785.
- Guadeloupe
- Ordered: 19 September 1757
- (originally ordered from John Williams, Neyland (Pembs.), but the ordered was transferred to Plymouth Dockyard following Williams's bankruptcy in 1758.)
- Re-ordered: 29 June 1758
- Built by: Plymouth Dockyard.
- Keel laid: 8 May 1759
- Launched: 5 December 1763
- Completed: 11 July 1764.
- Fate: Scuttled in York River, Virginia on 10 October 1781, but salved by the French Navy in which service she was maintained until 1786.
- Carysfort
- Ordered: 4 February 1764
- Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
- Keel laid: June 1764
- Launched: 23 August 1766
- Completed: 11 August 1767
- Fate: Sold at Deptford Dockyard on 28 April 1813.
Final batch
edit2 oak-built ships, only 1 completed
- Hind
- Ordered: 2 October 1782
- Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
- Keel laid: February 1783
- Launched: 22 July 1785
- Completed: 24 November 1787 at Deptford Dockyard.
- Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in July 1811.
- Laurel
- Ordered: 22 October 1782
- Built by: Philemon Jacobs, Sandgate.
- Cancelled: 7 October 1783.
References
editBibliography
edit- David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List, Brasseys Publications, London 1993.
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006..