The ''Conway'' class sailing

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 an ...

s were a series of ten

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

post ship Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a sixth-rate ship (see rating system of the Royal Navy) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carrying ...

s built to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule. All ten were ordered on 18 January 1812, and nine of these were launched during 1814, at the end of the

Napoleonic War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

; the last (''Tees'') was delayed and was launched in 1817. These ships were originally designated as "sloops", but were nominally rated as sixth rates of 20 guns when built, as their 12-pounder

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 were not included in the official rating. When this changed in February 1817, they were rated at 28 guns.

Ships in class

* ** Builder: William Courtney,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

** Laid down: March 1813 ** Launched: March 1814 ** Completed: 26 April 1814 at

Plymouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roya ...

** Fate: Broken up at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in 1852. * ** Builder: William Courtney,

** Laid down: March 1813 ** Launched: 19 May 1814 ** Completed: 20 June 1814 ** Fate: Broken up at

in 1833. * ** Builder: John Pelham,

Frindsbury Frindsbury is part of the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, southern England. It lies on the opposite side of the River Medway to Rochester, and at various times in its history has been considered fully or partially part of the City of Rocheste ...

** Laid down: May 1813 ** Launched: 10 March 1814 ** Completed: 7 November 1814 ** Fate: Sold in 1825; became the merchantman and whaler ''Toward Castle'' and was wrecked in 1838 * ** Builder: Josiah & Thomas Brindley,

** Laid down: May 1813 ** Launched: 23 March 1814 ** Completed: 5 November 1814 ** Fate: Sold in 1837. * ** Builder: Jabez Bayley,

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

** Laid down: May 1813 ** Launched: 5 May 1814 ** Completed: 29 October 1814 ** Fate: Sold in 1819. * ** Builder: Balthazar Adams, Bucklers Hard ** Laid down: May 1813 ** Launched: 6 May 1814 ** Completed: 6 December 1814 ** Fate: Broken up at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

in 1822. * ** Builder: Josiah & Thomas Brindley,

** Laid down: June 1813 ** Launched: 5 April 1814 ** Completed: 8 December 1814 ** Fate: Broken up in 1853. * ** Builder: Robert Davy, Topsham,

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

** Laid down: August 1813 ** Launched: 20 May 1814 ** Completed: 9 November 1814 ** Fate: Sold in 1825. * ** Builder: Benjamin Hobbs & George Hellyer, Redbridge,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

** Laid down: September 1813 ** Launched: 17 August 1814 ** Completed: 10 July 1815 ** Fate: Broken up at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

in 1852. * ** Builder: William Taylor,

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England. It is the main town of the Torridge District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bi ...

** Laid down: October 1813 ** Launched: 17 May 1817 ** Completed: 30 May 1818 ** Fate: Sold in 1872.

References

* Rif Winfield, ''British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates'', Chatham Publishing, London 2005. . {{Conway class post ship Ship classes