The ''Flora''-class frigates were 36-gun

sailing 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 fifth rate produced for 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 ...

. They were designed in 1778 by Sir John Williams in response to an

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

decision to discontinue 32-gun, , vessels.Winfield pp. 203 - 204 Williams proposed a frigate with a main battery of twenty-six guns and a secondary armament of ten . Four 18-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 mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...

s and 12 swivel guns were added to the upperworks in September 1799 and the 6-pound long guns were upgraded to 9-pounders in April 1780, before any of the ships were completed.Winfield p. 204 The drafted vessel had a gundeck, she was at the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

, with a

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

, and a depth in the hold of ; she was 868

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 bas ...

. Initially intended for a crew of 260 this was increased to 270 when the secondary armament was boosted on 25 April 1780. The first of the class, was ordered on 6 November 1778. The second ship, ordered on 19 December 1780, had the position of its

hawsehole Hawsehole is a nautical term for a small hole in the hull of a ship through which '' hawsers'' may be passed. It is also known as a cat hole. In the (British) Royal Navy, a man who had risen from the lowest grade to officer was said to have "come ...

s changed to just above the cheeks. This design modification carried over to the last two ships, requested between August and December 1781, which also had their lines slightly altered. Flora-class frigates served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

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 last to be built, was ordered in December 1781 by which time, Williams' Latona-class frigate was in service, a 38-gun 18-pounder built to compete with Edward Hunt's Minerva-class.Winfield p. 207

Ships in class

* ** Ordered: 6 November 1778 ** Built by: Adam Hayes, Deptford Dockyard. ** Keel laid: 21 November 1778 ** Launched: 6 May 1780 ** Completed: 23 June 1780 at the builder's shipyard. ** Fate: Wrecked off the Dutch coast on 18 January 1808. * Winfield p. 205 ** Ordered: 19 December 1780 ** Built by: John Nowlan & Thomas Calhoun, Bursledon. ** Keel laid: March 1781 ** Launched: 7 November 1782 ** Completed: 18 January 1783 at

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 ...

. ** Fate: Broken up at

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 ...

in July 1784. * ** Ordered: 11 August 1781 ** Built by: John Nowlan & Thomas Calhoun, Bursledon. ** Keel laid: November 1781 ** Launched: 28 October 1784 ** Completed: 11 January 1785 at

. ** Fate: Wrecked off

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

on 6 December 1808. * ** Ordered: 28 December 1781 ** Built by: Edward Greaves & Mr Purnell, Limehouse. ** Keel laid: November 1782 ** Launched: 21 September 1785 ** Completed: 5 July 1790 at

. ** Fate: Broken up in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

in November 1816.

Citations

References

* {{Flora class frigate Frigate classes Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy Ship classes of the Royal Navy