Talk:HMS Glatton

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[edit] Not A Frigate

According to the main entry for Henry Trollope, HMS Glatton was a fourth rate ship of the line, not a frigate, so the summarised entry on the main page is incorrect.

See Fourth rate ("by the time of the American Revolution and especially the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the fourth rate was considered too weak to stand in the line of battle") and Ship of the line ("Ships of the line were 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-rated ships in the rating system of the Royal Navy") and Rating system of the Royal Navy (in which ships of the line are limited to 1st, 2nd and 3rd rates, and 4th, 5th and 6th rates are considered frigates). -- ALoan (Talk) 14:29, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The pages on the rates of RN ships reflect the popular conception that rated vessels were either frigates, or Ships of the Line. The smallest ships meriting a full Post Captain were not frigates, but flush-decked, ship-rigged sloops. Similarly, vessels no longer considered powerful enough to stand in line of battle, do not become frigates. In any case, the fleet the Glatton fought against at Camperdown was obsolete. The Dutch included vessels as small as 40 guns in their line of battle.

The previous user's contribution seems to include comments from someone else, without attribution, or a pointer to where someone could read the context in which it was written. -- Geo Swan 04:57, 2005 Jun 22 (UTC)