Lyme class frigate

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The two Sixth Rate ships of the “Lyme Class” were built to the draught of a French privateer named Le Tygre, which had been captured earlier in 1747. They were initially rated as 24-gun ships, in spite of having four 3pdr guns mounted on the quarterdeck, as well as the twenty-four 9pdr guns forming their primary battery on the upper deck. However in 1756 they were re-classed as 28-gun ships. They are normally seen as the first true sailing frigates to be built for the Royal Navy.

[edit] Ships in class

• HMS Lyme
  • Ordered: 29 April 1747
  • Builder: Deptford Royal Dockyard
  • Laid Down: 24 September 1747
  • Launched: 10 December 1748
  • Completed: 8 February 1749
  • Fate: Wrecked off the Baltic coast of Sweden on 18 October 1760.
• HMS Unicorn
  • Ordered: 29 April 1747
  • Builder: Plymouth Royal Dockyard
  • Laid down: 3 July 1747
  • Launched: 7 December 1748
  • Completed: 17 July 1749
  • Fate: Broken up at Sheerness Dockyard in December 1771

[edit] References

• David Lyon, "The Sailing Navy List", Brasseys Publications, London 1993.

• Rif Winfield, "British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792", Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6