The 1706 Establishment was the first formal set of dimensions for ships of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. Two previous sets of dimensions had existed before, though these were only for specific shipbuilding programs running for only a given amount of time. In contrast, the 1706 Establishment was intended to be permanent.

Origins

Dimensions for ships had been established for the "Thirty Ships" building program of 1677, and while these dimensions saw use until 1695, this was merely because of the success of the 1677 ships and the lack of perceived need to change them. Dimensions were then laid down for the 1691 "Twenty-seven Ships" program to build seventeen eighty-gun and ten sixty-gun double-decked ships of the line, though the dimensions were abandoned before the program was complete, with the final four eighty-gun ships being constructed with three gun-decks. The origins of the formalized 1706 Establishment can be traced to February 1705, when Prince George of Denmark, the Lord High Admiral at the time, ordered the

Navy Board The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...

to determine a set of dimensions for

second-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer gun ...

ships. Though the second-rate ships appear to have been the central focus of the Establishment, the Board was also directed to consider dimensions for ships of the third- (80 and 70 guns), fourth- (60 and 50 guns), and

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal ...

ships (40 and 30 guns). Because of their rarity and power,

first rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at ...

s were not addressed by the Establishment and were given individual designs, whilst smaller vessels had a low enough cost to allow experimentation. The Navy Board used existing ships considered to be the best in their respective classes as the bases for these dimensions.

Implementation

The Navy Board produced sets of dimensions for ships from forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, and ninety guns (they decided against doing so for thirty-gun ships). After a last-minute adjustment created by Admiral George Churchill, the dimensions were sent out to the dockyards together with an order that they were to be strictly adhered to, and that they should apply to rebuilds as well as new ships. The implementation of the Establishment - the first of many - began an era of notorious conservatism in naval administration. Though there would be no significant technological changes until the following century, the naval architecture of the 1706 Establishment slowly became more antiquated for the early eighteenth century.

Individual ship types

90-gun second-rates

Seven existing second-rates were rebuilt to the 1706 Establishment, including three whose reconstruction was ordered in 1704-1705. These first three were the ''Marlborough'' of 1706 (rebuilt from the old ''Saint Michael''), ''Blenheim'' of 1709 (rebuilt from the old ''Duchess'') and the ''Vanguard'' of 1710. The other four ships were the ''Neptune'' of 1710, ''Ossory'' of 1711, ''Sandwich'' of 1715 and ''Barfleur'' of 1716. These ships were originally armed as 96-gun ships under the 1703 Establishment of Guns. They were re-armed as 90-gun ships under the 1716 Establishment of Guns, with heavier 32-lb and 9-lb on the lower and upper decks (the middle deck 18-lb were unaltered), but with one pair of 6-lb removed from each of the partial decks above to leave: *Quarter deck - 10 × 6-lb *Forecastle - 2 × 6-lb *Roundhouse - nil

80-gun third-rates

Eight of the older type of two-decker 80-gun ships were rebuilt as three-deckers under the 1706 Establishment - the ''Boyne'' and ''Humber'' launched in 1708, the ''Russell'' in 1709, the ''Dorsetshire'' in 1712, the ''Newark'' and ''Shrewsbury'' in 1713, ''Cambridge'' in 1715 and ''Torbay'' in 1719. In addition, two new ships were built to this specification as replacements for ships lost in 1707 - the ''Devonshire'' and ''Cumberland'' both being launched in 1710. The ships were initially armed with 80 guns as per the 1703 Establishment of Guns, as shown in the table at right. The 1716 Establishment of Guns replaced the 24-pounder guns on the lower deck by an equal number of 32-lb. It also added one pair of 6-lb to the upper deck, removing one pair of 6-lb from the quarter deck.

70-gun third-rates

Following the loss of four 70-gun ships in a single night during the Great Storm on 27 November 1703, four replacements were ordered from the Royal Dockyards just three weeks later - the ''Northumberland'', ''Resolution'' and ''Stirling Castle'' being launched in 1705 and the ''Nassau'' in 1707. Another four were ordered in 1705-1706, again from the Dockyards - the ''Elizabeth'' and ''Restoration'' launched in 1706, while another ''Resolution'' and ''Captain'' were launched in 1708. Subsequently, two more ships were newbuilt (the ''Grafton'' and ''Hampton Court'', both launched in 1709) and three rebuilt from existing third-rates (the ''Edgar'' and ''Yarmouth'' in 1709, and ''Orford'' in 1713) by contract; and another five were rebuilt in the Dockyards - the ''Royal Oak'', ''Expedition'', ''Suffolk'', ''Monmouth'' and ''Revenge''. The ships were initially armed with 70 guns as per the 1703 Establishment of Guns, as shown in the table at right. Under the 1716 Establishment, a thirteenth pair of 24-lb was added on the lower deck, while the demi-culverins (9-lb) on the upper deck were upgraded to 12-lb. An extra pair of 6-lb was added to the quarter deck, while the 3-lb were removed from the roundhouse to retain the total at 70 guns.

60-gun fourth-rates

Four 60-gun ships were newbuilt to the 1706 Establishment - the ''Plymouth'' launched in 1708, the ''Lion'' and ''Gloucester'' in 1709, and the ''Rippon'' in 1712 - while four existing 60-gun ships were rebuilt to the same specification from 1714 onwards - the '' "Lyme"'', ''Medway'', ''Kingston'' and ' 'Nottingham.s As per the 1703 Establishment of Guns, the ships were initially armed with 64 guns as shown in the table at right. The 1716 Establishment of Guns replaced the 18-lb on the lower deck by 24-lb, and reduced the ships to 60 guns by removing one pair of 6-lb from the quarter deck and another pair from the forecastle to result in a composition of: **Lower deck: 24 24-lb **Upper deck: 26 9-lb **Quarter deck: 8 6-lb **Forecastle: 2 6-lb

50-gun fourth-rates

Eleven new 50-gun ships were built to the 1706 Establishment (all as replacements for fourth-rates lost during the war years from 1703 onwards) - the ''Salisbury'' launched in 1707, the ''Falmouth'', ''Ruby'', ''Chester'' and ''Romney'' in 1708, the ''Pembroke'' in 1710, the ''Bristol'', ''Gloucester'' and ''Ormonde'' in 1711, the ''Advice'' in 1712 and the ''Strafford'' in 1715. Another existing eight ships were rebuilt to the same specification - the ''Dragon'' in 1707, the ''Warwick'' and ''Bonaventure'' in 1711, the ''Assistance'' in 1713, the ''Worcester'' in 1714, and the ''Rochester'', ''Panther'' and ''Dartmouth'' in 1716. These vessels were initially armed as 54-gun ships to the 1703 Establishment of Guns (see table to right). Under the 1716 Establishment of Guns, they were re-classed as 50-gun ships with the following armament: **Lower deck: 22 18-lb **Upper deck: 22 9-lb **Quarter deck: 4 6-lb **Forecastle: 2 6-lb

40-gun fifth-rates

Fifteen 42-gun ships were newbuilt to the dimensions of the 1706 Establishment - the ''Ludlow Castle'', ''Gosport'', ''Portsmouth'' and ''Hastings'' launched in 1707, the ''Pearl'', ''Mary Galley'', ''Sapphire'' and ''Southsea Castle'' in 1708, the ''Enterprise'', ''Adventure'' and ''Fowey'' in 1709, ''Charles Galley'' in 1710, ''Launceston'' in 1711, ''Faversham'' in 1712 and ''Lynn'' in 1715. Two similar ships were built on speculation by the contractor William Johnson at Blackwall and purchased by the Navy Board - the ''Looe'' in 1707 and ''Diamond'' in 1708. A further 40-gun ship was also built nominally to the same specification - the ''Royal Anne Galley'' of 1709 - but she emerged longer and leaner than the others. The ships were initially armed to the 1703 Establishment of Guns (see table to right). Under the 1716 Gun Establishment, they became 40-gun ships, with an armament as follows: **Lower deck: 20 12-lb **Upper deck: 20 6-lb **Quarter deck: nil **Forecastle: nil

30-gun fifth-rates

While no formal set of recommendations for 30-gun ships was produced by the Navy Board in the 1706 Establishment, a de facto set of dimensions was adopted, which were used for the construction of two new 32-gun fifth-rates (''Sweepstakes'' in 1708 and ''Scarborough'' in 1711), while the ''Bedford Galley'' was rebuilt to slightly smaller dimensions in 1709: *Tons burthen: 416 bm *Length: (gundeck)
(keel) *Beam: *Hold depth: *Complement: 145 officers and men (110 in peacetime) *Armament: 32 guns(1703 Establishment) **Lower deck: 4 9-lb **Upper deck: 22 6-lb **Quarter deck: 6 4-lb **Forecastle: nil The 1716 Establishment of Guns altered their armament to 30 guns: **Lower deck: 8 9-lb **Upper deck: 20 6-lb **Quarter deck: 2 4-lb **Forecastle: nil

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 History of the Royal Navy