The ''Roebuck''-class ship was a class of twenty 44-gun sailing

two-decker A two-decker is a sail warship which carried her guns on two fully armed decks. Usually additional guns were carried on the upper works (forecastle and quarterdeck), but this was not a continuous battery and thus not counted as a full gun deck ...

warships of the

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 ...

. The class carried two complete decks of guns, a lower battery of 18-pounders and an upper battery of 9-pounders. This battery enabled the vessel to deliver a broadside of 285 pounds. Most were constructed for service during 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

but continued to serve thereafter. By 1793 five were still on the active list. Ten were hospital ships,

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

s or storeships. As troopships or storeships they had the guns on their lower deck removed. Many of the vessels in the class survived to take part in the

Napoleonic Wars {{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 ...

. In all, maritime incidents claimed five ships in the class and war claimed three.

Classification

The Royal Navy classed the ''Roebuck'' class as

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 ...

s like frigates but did not classify them as frigates. Although sea officers sometimes casually described them and other small two-deckers as frigates, the Admiralty officially never referred to them as frigates. By 1750, the Admiralty strictly defined frigates as ships of 28 guns or more, carrying all their main battery (24, 26 or even 28 guns) on the upper deck, with no guns or openings on the lower deck (which could thus be at sea level or even lower). A frigate might carry a few smaller guns - 3-pounders or 6-pounders, later 9-pounders - on their quarterdeck and (perhaps) on the forecastle. The ''Roebuck''-class ships were two-deckers with complete batteries on both decks, and hence not frigates.

Design and construction

The Admiralty assigned the contract for ''Roebuck'' to Chatham Dockyard on 30 November 1769. Some seven years after the design was first produced, the Admiralty re-used it for a second batch of nineteen ships. The Admiralty ordered them to meet the particular requirements of the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

for vessels suitable for coastal warfare in the shallow seas off North America (where deeper two-deckers could not sail). The first five vessels of the class, and the later ''Guardian'', had two rows of stern lights (windows), like larger two-deckers, though actually there was just the single level of cabin behind. Most, if not all, of the other ships of the class - from ''Dolphin'' onwards - had a 'single level' frigate-type stern.Winfield, Rif (2007) ''British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates''.

Ships in class

PROTOTYPE * ** Builder:

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

** Ordered: 30 November 1769 ** Laid down: October 1770 ** Launched: 24 April 1774 ** Completed: 4 August 1775 ** Fate: Broken up at Sheerness in July 1811. WARTIME BATCH * ** Builder: Henry Adams,

Bucklers Hard Buckler's Hard is a hamlet in the civil parish of Beaulieu, in the New Forest district, in the county of Hampshire, England, on the banks of the Beaulieu River. With its two rows of Georgian cottages running down to the river, Buckler's Har ...

** Ordered: 14 May 1776 ** Laid down: July 1776 ** Launched: 17 December 1777 ** Completed: 7 April 1778 at

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...

** Fate: Captured by a French squadron consisting of a ship of the line, two frigates and a cutter, off the Chesapeake 19 February 1781. * ** Builder: Randall & Co,

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe ( ) is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the ea ...

** Ordered: 3 July 1776 ** Laid down: July 1776 ** Launched: 29 January 1778 ** Completed: 17 April 1778 at

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important Royal Navy Dockyard, 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 man ...

** Fate: Sold to be broken up 30 April 1802 * ** Builder: Robert Batson,

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

** Ordered: 24 July 1776 ** Laid down: 9 August 1776 ** Launched: 14 May 1778 ** Completed: 11 August 1778 at

** Fate: Renamed ''Dromedary'' 1788 as storeship. Wrecked near Trinidad in August 1800 but with no loss of life. * (i) ** Builder: John Barnard,

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

** Ordered: 9 October 1776 ** Laid down: January 1777 ** Launched: 8 October 1778 ** Completed: 23 January 1779 at

Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the Royal Navy would often establish shore ...

** Fate: She was trapped at the

Siege of Yorktown The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Ma ...

so her stores, men and guns were taken ashore; on 10 October 1781 heated shot from a French battery set her on fire. * ** Builder:

** Ordered: 8 January 1777 ** Laid down: 1 May 1777 ** Launched: 10 March 1781 ** Completed: 11 May 1781 ** Fate: Broken up in July 1817 * ** Builder: John Fisher,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

** Ordered: 16 April 1777 ** Laid down: 28 June 1777 ** Launched: 14 July 1779 ** Completed: 2 January 1780 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: Sold to be broken up 11 January 1816 * ** Builder: Edward Greaves,

** Ordered: 2 February 1778 ** Laid down: 18 March 1778 ** Launched: 28 August 1779 ** Completed: 5 November 1779 at

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich - originally in north-west Kent, now in southeast London - whe ...

** Fate: Wrecked on an uncharted rock off Turks Island on 20 August 1790 with the loss of one man. * (i) ** Builder: Randall & Co,

** Ordered: 11 February 1778 ** Laid down: 3 March 1778 ** Launched: 4 March 1779 ** Completed: 6 May 1779 at

** Fate: Taken by American ''Bonhomme Richard'', assisted by other vessels, and transferred to the French who employed her as a privateer; wrecked 1781 off Madagascar. * ** Builder: Randall & Co,

** Ordered: 20 May 1778 ** Laid down: 11 June 1778 ** Launched: 20 April 1780 ** Completed: 15 July 1780 at

** Fate: Broken up in March 1815 * ** Builder: John Baker & Co, Howden Pans,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

** Ordered: 26 February 1779 ** Laid down: 18 August 1779 ** Launched: 8 June 1781 ** Completed: 15 October 1781 at

** Fate: Sold to be broken up 11 January 1816 * ** Builder: James Martin

Hilhouse Hilhouse (also spelled ''Hillhouse'') was a shipbuilder in Bristol, England, who built merchantman and men-of-war during the 18th and 19th centuries. The company subsequently became Charles Hill & Sons in 1845. The company, and its successor ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

** Ordered: 14 August 1779 ** Laid down: March 1780 ** Launched: 18 October 1781 ** Completed: 14 March 1782 at Bristol ** Fate: Wrecked off

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

, 2 August 1795. * ** Builder: Thomas Raymond, Northam, Southampton ** Ordered: 3 December 1779 ** Laid down: July 1780. ** Launched: 30 March 1782 ** Completed: 15 June 1782 at

** Fate: Renamed ''Camel'' 1788 as storeship. Broken up in December 1810. * ** Builder: Edward Greaves,

** Ordered: 29 March 1780 ** Laid down: April 1781 ** Launched: 11 July 1782 ** Completed: 17 September 1782 at

** Fate: Blew up (believed struck by lightning) off

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

24 July 1798; four survivors. * ** Builder: Henry Adams,

** Ordered: 13 July 1780 ** Laid down: April 1781 ** Launched: 20 January 1783 ** Completed: February 1783 at

** Fate: Broken up in August 1817 * (ii) ** Builder: James Martin Hillhouse,

** Ordered: 13 July 1780 ** Laid down: May 1781 ** Launched: 7 November 1782 ** Completed: December 1782 at Bristol ** Fate: Sold to be broken up at Jamaica on 17 July 1826 * ** Builder: Robert Fabian, East Cowes, Isle of Wight ** Ordered: 13 July 1780 ** Laid down: June 1781 ** Launched: 27 November 1784 ** Completed: 11 January 1785 at

** Fate: Sold to be broken up 8 September 1836 * ** Builder: Robert Batson,

** Ordered: 11 August 1780 ** Laid down: December 1780 ** Launched: 23 March 1784 ** Completed: 20 May 1784 at

** Fate: Collided with iceberg 24 December 1789 and of the 40 men and passengers who set out in boats, 10 survived; ''Guardian'', with the remaining 61 crew, convicts and passengers, arrived at

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in sinking condition 21 February 1790 and beached on 12 April during a gale; remains sold to be broken up 8 February 1791. * ** Builder: Thomas Raymond, Northam, Southampton ** Ordered: 20 October 1780 ** Laid down: June 1781 ** Launched: 10 February 1785 ** Completed: 10 March 1785 at

** Fate: Broken up in March 1816 * (ii) ** Builder: James Martin Hillhouse,

** Ordered: 19 September 1781 ** Laid down: May 1782 ** Launched: 17 May 1783 ** Completed: 5 February 1784 at

** Fate: Broken up in December 1805

Citations

References

* Robert Gardiner: ''Ships of the Royal Navy: the 44-gun two-decker'', in: Robert Gardiner (Hrsg.): Nelson against Napoleon. From the Nile to Copenhagen, 1798-1801. Chatham 1997, S. 85-87. * * {{Roebuck class ship Ship classes