The ''Pallas''-class frigates were a series of three

frigates 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 ...

built to a 1791 design by John Henslow, which served in 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 F ...

during the

French Revolutionary The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. The trio were all dockyard-built in order to use spare shipbuilding capacity. The orders were originally assigned in December 1790 to the Royal Dockyards at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, but in February 1791 the orders were transferred to

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

and

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

Dockyards respectively. They were the first and only 32-gun Royal Navy frigates designed to be armed with the eighteen-pounder cannon on their upper deck, the main gun deck of a frigate.

Ships in class

* ** Builder:

Chatham Royal Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

** Ordered: 9 December 1790 ** Laid down: March 1792 ** Launched: 12 July 1794 ** Completed: 5 October 1794 ** Fate: Wrecked in a storm in Vigo Bay 6 September 1800, and burnt the next day. * ** Builder:

** Ordered: 9 December 1790 ** Laid down: March 1792 ** Launched: 12 July 1794 ** Completed: 5 October 1794 ** Fate: Broken up March 1815 at

Deptford 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 ...

. * ** Builder: Woolwich Royal Dockyard ** Ordered: 9 December 1790 ** Laid down: May 1792 ** Launched: 19 December 1793 ** Completed: 5 March 1794. ** Fate: Wrecked in a storm in

Cawsand Bay Cawsand Bay is a bay on the southeast coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The bay takes its name from the village of Cawsand at , to the northeast of the Rame Peninsula. Cawsand Bay is oriented north–south, opening eastward into Pl ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

on 4 April 1798

References

Robert Gardiner, ''The Heavy Frigate'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1994. Rif Winfield, ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates''. 2nd edition, Seaforth Publishing, 2008. .

External links

* {{1798 shipwrecks Frigate classes Frigates of the Royal Navy Ship classes of the Royal Navy