The ''Scamander'' class sailing

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 ...

s were a series of ten 36-gun ships, all built by contract with private shipbuilders to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule, which served in 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 ...

during the late Napoleonic War and War of 1812. They were all built of "fir" (actually, pine), selected as a stop-gap measure because of the urgent need to build ships quickly, with the Navy Board supplying red pine timber to the contractors from dockyard stocks for the first seven ships. The last three were built of yellow pine. While quick to build, the material was not expected to last as long as oak-built ships, and indeed all were deleted by 1819, except the ''Tagus'' which lasted to 1822.

Ships in class

Red pine group. These seven ships were originally ordered under the names ''Liffey'', ''Brilliant'', ''Lively'', ''Severn'', ''Blonde'', ''Forth'' and ''Greyhound'', all being renamed on 11 December 1812 (except ''Liffey'' and ''Severn'', which were renamed on 26 January 1813). * (ex-''Liffey'') ** Builder: Mrs Mary Ross, Rochester ** Ordered: 4 May 1812 ** Laid down: August 1812 ** Launched: 1 May 1813 ** Completed: 13 July 1813 at

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 ...

** Fate: Sold 29 January 1818 * (ex-''Brilliant'') ** Builder: Josiah & Thomas Brindley,

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 ...

** Ordered: 4 May 1812 ** Laid down: August 1812 ** Launched: 29 June 1813 ** Completed: 13 December 1813 at

** Fate: Broken up at Sheerness in April 1817 * (ex-''Lively'') ** Builder: Josiah & Thomas Brindley,

** Ordered: 4 May 1812 ** Laid down: August 1812 ** Launched: 13 July 1813 ** Completed: 24 December 1813 at

** Fate: Sold 22 July 1819 * HMS ''Tagus'' (ex-''Severn'') ** Builder: Daniel List, Binstead,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

** Ordered: 4 May 1812 ** Laid down: August 1812 ** Launched: 14 July 1813 ** Completed: 9 November 1813 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: Sold 19 April 1822 * (ex-''Blonde'') ** Builder: William Wallis,

Leamouth Leamouth is a locality in the Blackwall area of Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area takes its name from the former ''Leamouth Wharf'' and lies on the west side of the confluence of the Bow Creek stretch of the Lea, at it ...

** Ordered: 4 May 1812 ** Laid down: August 1812 ** Launched: 14 July 1813 ** Completed: 11 November 1813 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: Sold 8 March 1819 * (ex-''Forth'') ** Builder: John Pelham,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

** Ordered: 4 May 1812 ** Laid down: September 1812 ** Launched: 26 June 1813 ** Completed: 24 December 1813 at

** Fate: Sold 11 June 1818 * (ex-''Greyhound'') ** Builder: John King,

Upnor Lower Upnor and Upper Upnor are two small villages in Medway, Kent, England. They are in the parish of Frindsbury Extra on the western bank of the River Medway. Today the two villages are mainly residential and a centre for small craft moored ...

** Ordered: 12 October 1812 ** Laid down: January 1813 ** Launched: 8 November 1813 ** Completed: 24 September 1814 at

** Fate: Sold 29 January 1818 Yellow pine group. * ** Builder: John Barton,

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: 16 November 1812 ** Laid down: January 1813 ** Launched: 13 September 1813 ** Completed: 18 December 1813 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 3 April 1817 * ** Builder: John Barton,

** Ordered: 17 November 1812 ** Laid down: January 1813 ** Launched: 25 October 1813 ** Completed: 31 January 1814 at

** Fate: Sold 3 April 1817 * ** Builder: William Wallis,

** Ordered: 7 December 1812 ** Laid down: July 1813 ** Launched: 6 April 1814 ** Completed: 11 July 1814 at

** Fate: Sold 10 September 1817

References

* Rif Winfield, ''British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817'', 2nd edition, Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley 2008. . {{Scamander class frigate Ship classes of the Royal Navy