The ''Active''-class frigate was a 32-gun

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 N ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

class of eight ships designed by Edward Hunt to replace the design, which they resembled with a distinct midsection. Due to poor performance of the ''Active'' class, orders continued for the ''Amazon'' class.

Description

The ''Active'' class was designed with a gundeck, measuring at the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

, at the

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

, and a draught of . They displaced

tons burthen Builder's Old Measurement (BOM, bm, OM, and o.m.) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship b ...

. The class was designed with an armament of 26 cannon on the gundeck, four guns on the quarterdeck with four

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th cen ...

s, and two 6 pdr guns and two 24 pdr carronades on the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

Ships in class

* - wrecked attempting to exit Castle Harbour, Bermuda, via

Castle Roads Castle Roads is the primary channel by which vessels enter Castle Harbour, Bermuda, Castle Harbour, Bermuda, from the Atlantic Ocean. Although little used today, except by pleasure boats, Castle Harbour was once an important anchorage, and an a ...

* – wrecked on Anticosti Island in the St Lawrence estuary 13 July 1796, abandoned 30 July 1796. * - broken up July 1811. * – broken up 1816 * – wrecked on Anegada Island in the Virgin Islands 23 March 1808. * – broken up 1830. * – broken up 1830. * - broken up November 1815.

References

* Age of Sail frigates of the United Kingdom {{UK-mil-ship-stub