Sir William Rule (–1816) was a shipbuilder and designer to 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 ...

who rose to be

Surveyor of the Navy The Surveyor of the Navy, originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy, held overall responsibility for the design of British warships from 1745. He was a principal commissioner and member of the Navy Board from the inauguration of tha ...

. Designing during 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 ...

, many of his ships took place in the critical battles:

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * The Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England Trafalgar may also refer to: Places * Cape Trafalgar, a headland in ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, etc.

Life

He was born in south England around 1750. He first appears in Royal Navy records in April 1778 as a master mastmaker 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 ...

; however, this position infers both an apprenticeship as a ship's carpenter and a period in the dockyards as a standard mastmaker. In September 1778 he was promoted to master boatbuilder 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 ...

. In February 1779 he moved to

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 ...

, first as master shipwright then as master

caulk Caulk (also known as caulking and calking) is a material used to Seal (mechanical), seal Joint (building), joints or seams against leakage in various structures and piping. The oldest form of caulk consisted of fibrous materials driven into ...

er. By 1787 he was assistant master shipwright at

, and in March of that year was appointed master shipwright back at

, thereafter having overall charge of all ships constructed there, and from this point the Royal Navy list the ships built under his charge. In August 1790 he moved to Woolwich as master shipwright, and in February 1793 he was appointed

, working alongside Sir John Henslow. In June 1806 Henslow retired and from then Rule worked with Henry Peake. In June 1813 Rule was replaced as

by Joseph Tucker and

Robert Seppings Sir Robert Seppings, FRS (11 December 176725 April 1840) was an English naval architect. His experiments with diagonal trusses in the construction of ships led to his appointment as Surveyor of the Navy in 1813, a position he held until 1835. ...

(jointly) apparently due to Rule's ill-health. Rule died in 1816, his will being read on 29 February 1816. The will is held at the National Archives in Kew.

Ships built

HMS Leopard (1790) HMS ''Leopard'' was a 50-gun ''Portland class'' fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and was notable for the actions of her captain in 1807, which were emblematic of the tensions that ...

50-gun

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

HMS Martin (1790) HMS ''Martin'' was a 16-gun sloop of the Royal Navy. She served at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797 and captured two privateers before she disappeared in 1800. Construction and commissioning ''Martin'' was a sloop, built to a design by Jo ...

16-gun sloop * HMS Minotaur (1793) 74-gun

with a colourful history

Ships designed

Note: dates in brackets represent date of design not launch) * Amazon-class frigate (1795) four 36-gun

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 *

Caledonia-class ship of the line The ''Caledonia''-class ships of the line were a class of nine 120-gun first rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir William Rule. A tenth ship (''Royal Frederick'') was ordered on 29 October 1827 to the same design, but was launched in 1833 ...

(1794) nine huge 120-gun

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

Merlin-class sloop The ''Merlin'' class was a class of twenty-one sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy between 1743 and 1746. They were all built by contract with commercial builders to a common design prepared by Jacob Acworth, the Surveyor of th ...

(1795) *

Albatross-class brig-sloop The ''Albatross'' class were built as a class of eight 18-gun brig-sloops for the Royal Navy. They were originally to have carried sixteen 6-pounder carriage guns, but on 22 April 1795 it was instructed that they should be armed with sixteen 32 ...

(1795) eight 18-gun brigs * HMS Dragon (1795) 74-gun ship of the line *

HMS Acasta Three ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Acasta'', whilst another two were planned: * was a 40-gun fifth rate frigate launched in 1797 and broken up in 1821. * HMS ''Acasta'' was to have been a wooden screw frigate Steam friga ...

(1795) 40-gun frigate * HMS Naiad (1795) 38-gun frigate * Amphion-class frigate (1796) a number of 32-gun frigates *

Snake-class ship-sloop The ''Snake-''class ship-sloops were a class of four Royal Navy sloops-of-war built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.Winfield, Rif & Lyon, David (2004). '' The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889''. Lo ...

(1796) a number of 18-gun sloops *

Cruizer-class brig-sloop The ''Cruizer'' class was an 18-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops were the same as ship-sloops except for their rigging. A ship-sloop was rigged with three masts whereas a brig-sloop was rigged as a brig with only a for ...

(1796) a number of 16-gun sloops * Courser-class gunboat (1797) a number of 12-gun gunboats * HMS Osprey (1797) 18-gun sloop *

Apollo-class frigate The ''Apollo''-class sailing frigates were a series of twenty-seven ships that the British Admiralty commissioned be built to a 1798 design by Sir William Rule. Twenty-five served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, two being launched t ...

(1798) twenty-seven 36-gun frigates * HMS Plantagenet (1798) 74-gun

Lively-class frigate The ''Lively'' class were a successful class of sixteen British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. Origins The ''Lively'' class were a series of sixteen ships built to a 1799 design by Sir William Rule, which served in the Royal Navy during the ...

(1799) sixteen 38-gun frigates * Repulse-class ship of the line (1800) a series of eleven 74-gun ships of the line * HMS Ethalion (1800) 38-gun frigate * Archer-class gun-brig (1800) 12-gun gun-brig * HMS Euryalus (1801) 36-gun frigate * HMS Impregnable (1802) 98-gun ship of the line eventually launched in 1810 * Confounder-class gun-brig (1804) a series of 12-gun gun-brigs *

HMS Bulwark Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Bulwark'', after the reference to the Navy as the 'bulwark' (defence) of the country: * HMS ''Bulwark'' was to have been a 74-gun third rate. She was ordered in 1778 but was cancelled in 1783 ...

(1804) 74-gun ship of the line * HMS Seagull (1805) 16-gun sloop * Banterer-class post ship (1805) a series of six 22-gun post ships * HMS Horatio (1805) 38-gun frigate * HMS Bucephalus (1806) 32-gun frigate * HMS Tuscan (1808) 16-gun sloop *

Decoy-class cutter The ''Decoy'' class was a class of three Cutter (ship), cutters of the Royal Navy. William Rule designed the class. Two were lost in wartime; they grounded, enabling the French to capture them. One was lost to bad weather. * participated in th ...

(1809) three 10-gun cutters * Salisbury-class ship of the line (1810) a series of 50-gun ships of the line * HMS Bacchante (1810) 38-gun frigate *Bold-modified Confounder-class gun-brig (1811) a series of 12-gun gun-brigs * HMS Forte (1811) 38-gun frigate * HMS Jupiter (1811) 50-gun ship of the line * HMS Teazer (1811) 12-gun sloop * HMS Creole (1811) 36-gun frigate * Scamander-class frigate (1812) a series of ten 36-gun frigates *

Cyrus-class ship-sloop The ''Cyrus''-class sixth rates of the Royal Navy were a series of sixteen-flush decked sloops of war built to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule, the Surveyor of the Navy. The first nine ships of the class were launched in 1813 and the remainin ...

(1812) a series of sixteen 20-gun flush-desk post-ships *

Conway-class post ship The ''Conway'' class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten Royal Navy post ships 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 W ...

(1813) a series of ten 20-gun post-ships * HMS Acute (1813) 12-gun brig * HMS Snapper (1813) 12-gun gun-brig *

HMS Trafalgar Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Trafalgar'', after the Battle of Trafalgar: * was a 106-gun first rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for th ...

(1813) huge 106-gun ship of the line (later renamed Camperdown) *

HMS Leander (1813) HMS ''Leander'' was a 50-gun spar deck, spar-decked frigate (rated in the fourth rate) of the Royal Navy which saw service in the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, and the Second Barbary War. ''Leander'' and her near sister were a new type o ...

58-gun frigate * HMS Bold (1812 or 1813) 12-gun gun-brig * Favorite-class sloop (1813) a series of 18-gun sloops *

HMS Griper (1813) HMS ''Griper'' was a of the British Royal Navy, built in 1813 by Mark Williams and John Davidson at Hythe. She participated in the 1819 expedition to the Arctic led by William Parry, made a voyage to Greenland and Norway in 1823, and took p ...

12-gun gun-brig * HMS Adder (1813) 12-gun gun-brig * HMS Havock (date unclear) 12-gun gun-brig * HMS Pelican (date unclear) 16-gun sloop

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rule, William 1816 deaths Surveyors of the Navy