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mounting from 46 up to 60 guns. While the number of guns stayed in the same range until 1817, after 1756 the ships of 50 guns and below were considered too weak to stand in the line of battle, although the remaining 60-gun ships were still classed as fit to be ships of the line. However, the 50-gun
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In 1603 all
English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced. These small ships were divided into three tiers: fourth-, fifth- and sixth-rates. Up to the end of the
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and were classed as fourth-rates in Royal Naval service under the revised rating system. This convention continued into the 19th century. Any of these later large fourth-rate frigates threw a close-range broadside (including from their heavy carronades) far superior to the earlier two-decker 50s or
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a whole new group of 50-gun ships was constructed, not for the battle fleet, but to meet the needs of combat in the shallow waters off North
America where the larger ships found it difficult to sail. 50-gun ships were also suitable as convoy escorts and for service on foreign stations, where larger
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enemy vessels were unlikely to be encountered. Some saw service as flagships since, as two-deckers, they were able to accommodate a flag officer and his retinue, and they also had the physical presence of a flagship. Their usefulness was declining, however, and during the
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17th century, the number of guns and the complement size were adjusted until the rating system was actually clarified. A 'fourth-rate' was nominally a ship of over thirty guns with a complement of 140 men.
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few 50s were built, although several remained in service, especially on distant stations such as the East Indies. The 60-gun ships were also dying out, superseded initially by the 74-gun
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223:'s main opponents were the Baltic powers and the Dutch, whose own fleet consisted mainly of 50- to 64-gun ships (e.g. the 56-gun
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This article is about the rating of Royal Navy ships. For the rating of late
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Some fourth-rates did remain in active service even during the
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from the initial two-deck warships, and occasionally even heavily armed merchant ships such as
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took many forms, initially as small two-decked warships, later as large frigates
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were never in operational use armed with fewer than 50 guns including
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The
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with 46 to 60 guns mounted. They were phased out of
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264:(38 guns), an incident which nearly led to war.
453:British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1817–1863
439:British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1793–1817
425:British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1714–1792
411:British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1603–1714
327:were heavily armed to protect themselves from
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353:The Fighting Ship of the Royal Navy, 897–1984
191:ship continued to be used largely during the
186:during the first half of the 18th century, a
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50:This article includes a list of general
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268:Large frigates and spar-decked frigates
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34:Historic category for Royal Navy ships
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323:Some ships of commerce such as the
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272:American 44-gun frigates
174:Small two decked warships
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367:The Battle of Trafalgar
135:in the 18th century, a
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255:(50 guns), and the US
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319:Merchant conversions
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182:was, in the British
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197:American Revolution
147:service during the
105:An illustration of
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351:Archibald, E.H.H.
242:Battle of the Nile
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468:References
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107:Royal Navy
77:March 2018
52:references
634:Post ship
619:Fire ship
303:Newcastle
287:President
217:North Sea
113:Newcastle
654:Category
639:Schooner
578:Frigates
339:Calcutta
248:between
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133:warships
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329:pirates
297:Leander
257:frigate
252:Leopard
240:at the
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127:In the
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337:HMS
331:and
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