The ''Lyme'' class were a
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
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* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
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of two 24-gun
sixth-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
s of the
Royal Navy. They served during the
War of the Austrian Succession and the
Seven Years' War.
They 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 3-pdr guns mounted on the quarterdeck, as well as the twenty-four 9-pdr 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.
Ships in class
*
HMS ''Lyme''
** Ordered: 29 April 1747
** Builder:
Deptford Royal Dockyard
Deptford Dockyard was an important naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and many significant events a ...
** 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
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.
{{Lyme class frigate
Frigate classes