Rating system of the Royal Navy

Ships of the line First-rate Second-rate Third-rate Fourth-rate Frigates Fifth-rate Sixth-rate Unrated Sloop-of-war

A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century, the culmination of a naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear. The rating system of the British Royal Navy was used by the British Royal Navy between the middle of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century to categorise sailing First-rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line, those mounting 100 guns or more on three gundecks In the British Royal Navy, a Second-rate was a Ship of the line mounting 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks In the British Royal Navy, a third-rate was a Ship of the line mounting 64 to 80 guns typically built with two Gun decks (thus the related term In the British Royal Navy, a fourth-rate was during the first half of the 18th century a Ship of the line mounting from 46 up to 60 guns For the bird see Frigatebird. A frigate /ˈfrɪgɪt/ is a warship In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail a fifth-rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based Sixth-rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck sometimes with guns on the upper works In the 18th and the earlier part of the 19th centuries a sloop-of-war was a small sailing Warship (also known as one of the Escort types with a single gun deck In Naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end-to-end Since these engagements were almost invariably won by the heaviest ships carrying the most powerful guns, the natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time.

From the end of the 1840s the introduction of steam power led to the construction of screw-driven but wooden-hulled ships-of-the-line, and a number of pure sail-driven ships were converted to this propulsion mechanism. However, the introduction of the ironclad frigate in about 1859 led swiftly to the decline of the steam-assisted ships-of-the-line, with the ironclad warship becoming the ancestor of the battleship. An ironclad was a steam-propelled Warship of the later 19th century protected by Iron or Steel armor plates An ironclad was a steam-propelled Warship of the later 19th century protected by Iron or Steel armor plates A battleship is a large heavily armored Warship with a main battery consisting of the largest Calibre of Guns Battleships were

Origins

Great ships, carracks and galleons

HMS Victory in 1884, the only surviving example of a ship-of-the-line. Construction In December 1758 the commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a Dry dock for the construction of a new First-rate

The great ship Henri Grâce à Dieu, from the Anthony Roll

HMS Sovereign of the Seas, a contemporaneous engraving by J. For other meanings of "Grace-Dieu" see Grace Dieu (disambiguation. The Anthony Roll is a visual record of ships of the Tudor Royal Navy, named after its creator Anthony Anthony History HMS Sovereign of the Seas was ordered in August 1634 on personal initiative of Charles I of England, who desired a giant Great Ship to be Payne.

The origin of the ship-of-the-line can be found in the great ships built by the English in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the similar large carracks built by other European nations at the same time. The rating system of the British Royal Navy was used by the British Royal Navy between the middle of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century to categorise sailing A carrack or nau was a three- or four- masted Sailing ship developed in the Atlantic Ocean in the 15th century by the Portuguese These vessels, developed from the cogs, which traded in the North Sea and the Baltic, had an advantage over galleys because they had raised platforms called "castles" at bow and stern which could be occupied by archers, who fired down on enemy ships. Cogs (or cog-built vessels are ships that first appeared in the 10th century, and were widely used from around the 12th century on A galley (from Greek γαλέα - galea is an ancient Ship which can be propelled entirely by human oarsmen, used for Warfare Over time these castles became higher and larger, and eventually started to be built into the structure of the ship, increasing overall strength.

Mary Rose was an English carrack and one of the first to be able to fire a full broadside of cannons, being well equipped with 78 guns (91 after a 1536 upgrade). The Mary Rose was an English Tudor Carrack warship and one of the first to be able to fire a full Broadside of cannons A broadside is the side of a Ship; the battery of Cannon on one side of a Warship; or their simultaneous (or near simultaneous fire in | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural Built in Portsmouth, England (1509–1510) she was thought to be named after King Henry VIII's sister Mary and the rose, the Tudor emblem. History See also History of Portsmouth There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times mostly being offshoots of Portchester, which England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of This article is about Mary Queen consort of France. For her niece and namesake Mary Tudor Queen regnant of England, see Mary I A rose is a perennial flowering Shrub or vine of the Genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was an English royal Dynasty that lasted 118 years from 1485 to 1603 a period known as the Tudor period She was one of the earliest purpose-built warships to serve in the English Navy; it is thought that she never served as a merchant ship. A warship is a Ship that is built and primarily intended for Combat. A merchant vessel is a Ship that transports Cargo and Passengers during peace time She displaced 500 tons (700 tons after 1536), was 38. In Fluid mechanics, displacement occurs when an object is immersed in a Fluid, pushing it out of the way and taking its 5 m long and 11. 7 m abeam and her crew consisted of 200 sailors, 185 soldiers, and 30 gunners. The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point or at the mid-point of its length Although she was the pride of the English fleet she was accidentally capsized during an engagement with the French July 19th 1545.

Henri Grâce à Dieu (French, "Henry Grace of God"), nicknamed "Great Harry", was an English great ship of the 16th century. For other meanings of "Grace-Dieu" see Grace Dieu (disambiguation. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people For other meanings of "Grace-Dieu" see Grace Dieu (disambiguation. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Contemporary with Mary Rose, Henri Grâce à Dieu was 165 feet (50 m) long, weighing 1,000–1,500 tons and having a complement of 700–1,000. It is said that she was ordered by Henry VIII in response to the Scottish ship Michael, launched in 1511. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of She was originally built at Woolwich Dockyard from 1512 to 1514 and was one of the first vessels to feature gunports and had twenty of the new heavy bronze cannon, allowing for a broadside. Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his Flagship Henri Grace a Dieu A broadside is the side of a Ship; the battery of Cannon on one side of a Warship; or their simultaneous (or near simultaneous fire in In all she mounted 43 heavy guns and 141 light guns. She was the first English two-decker and when launched she was the largest and most powerful warship in Europe, but she saw little action. A two-decker is a sail Warship, which carried her guns on two fully-armed decks She was present at the Battle of the Solent against Francis I of France in 1545 (in which Mary Rose sank) but appears to have been more of a diplomatic vessel, sailing on occasion with sails of gold cloth. The naval Battle of the Solent took place on 18 and 19 July, 1545 during the Italian Wars, fought between the fleets of Francis I of Francis I (September 12 1494 &ndash March 31 1547 was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547 Indeed, the great ships were almost as well known for their ornamental design (some ships, like the Vasa, were gilded on its stern scrollwork) as they were for the power they possessed.

These ships were the first used in experiments with carrying large-caliber guns aboard. Because of their higher construction and greater load-bearing ability, this type of vessel was better suited to gunpowder weapons than the galley. Because of their development from Atlantic seagoing vessels, the great ships were more weatherly than galleys and better suited to open waters. The lack of oars meant that large crews were unnecessary, making long journeys more feasible. Their disadvantage was that they were entirely reliant on the wind for mobility. Galleys could still overwhelm great ships, especially when there was little wind and they had a numerical advantage, but as great ships increased in size, galleys became less and less useful.

Another detriment was the high forecastle, which interfered with the sailing qualities of the ship; the bow would be forced low into the water while sailing before the wind. Forecastle, also spelled fo'c's'le (ˈfoʊksəl originally meant the upper deck of a Sailing ship, forward of the Foremast. But as guns were introduced and gunfire replaced boarding as the primary means of naval combat during the 16th century, the medieval forecastle was no longer needed, and later ships such as the galleon had only a low, one-deck high forecastle. A galleon was a large multi-decked Sailing ship used primarily by the nations of Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries By the time of the 1637 launching of Britain's powerful Sovereign of the Seas, the high forecastle was gone altogether. History HMS Sovereign of the Seas was ordered in August 1634 on personal initiative of Charles I of England, who desired a giant Great Ship to be

From the 16th to 18th century, the great ship and carrack evolved into the galleon, a longer, more maneuverable type of ship, with all the advantages of the great ship. A galleon was a large multi-decked Sailing ship used primarily by the nations of Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries The opposing British and Spanish fleets of the 1588 Spanish Armada were both largely composed of galleons. The Spanish Armada ( Spanish: Grande y Felicísima Armada, "Great and Most Fortunate Navy" or Armada Invencible, "Invincible

With the growing importance of colonies and exploration and the need to maintain trade routes across stormy oceans, galleys and galleasses (a larger, higher type of galley with side-mounted guns, but lower than a galleon) were used less and less, and by about 1750 had little impact upon naval battles. A galley (from Greek γαλέα - galea is an ancient Ship which can be propelled entirely by human oarsmen, used for Warfare By the 1710s every major European naval power was building ships like these.

Large sailing junks of the Chinese Empire, described by various travelers to the East such as Marco Polo and Niccolò Da Conti, and used during the travels of Admiral Zheng He in the early 15th century, were contemporaries of such European vessels. -HK CityHall Seaview 51217 5png|thumb|300px|A modern junk in Hong Kong]]A junk is a Chinese sailing vessel. Marco Polo ( September 15 1254 – January 9 1324 at earliest but no later than June 1325 was a Venetian trader and explorer Niccolò Da Conti (also Nicolò de' Conti) (1395&ndash1469 was a Venetian merchant and explorer born in Chioggia, who traveled to India and Zheng He ( Birth name 馬三寶 / 马三宝; Arabic / Persian name حجّي محمود شمس Hajji Mahmud Shams) (1371&ndash1433 was a Hui Chinese Junks carried cannon as well as other weapons unfavoured in the west but because of their construction and wider beam ends, were not as vulnerable to being fired on at the bow and stern as European ships were, and as a result there was no impetus to develop similar tactics. By the time European powers were capable of sending ships to Chinese waters, Chinese isolationism had resulted in these developments being abandoned and forgotten, and construction halted on all but the smallest types of Junks so that what they encountered were coastal defense ships comparable to European Sloops and not the 137 m (450 ft) long and 55 m (180 ft) wide Treasure Ships Admiral Zheng He commanded. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit A Treasure ship is the name for a type of large wooden vessel commanded by the Chinese admiral Zheng He on seven voyages in the early fifteenth century Zheng He ( Birth name 馬三寶 / 马三宝; Arabic / Persian name حجّي محمود شمس Hajji Mahmud Shams) (1371&ndash1433 was a Hui

Adoption of the line-of-battle

In the early to mid 17th century, new fighting techniques came to be used by several navies, in particular those of England and the Netherlands. Previously battles had usually been fought by great fleets of ships closing with each other and fighting it out in whatever arrangement they found themselves, often using boarding. However, the further development of guns and the adoption of broadside arrangements of guns required a change of tactics. A broadside is the side of a Ship; the battery of Cannon on one side of a Warship; or their simultaneous (or near simultaneous fire in With the broadside the decisive weapon, tactics evolved to ensure as many ships could fire broadside as possible. The line-of-battle tactic required ships to form long single-file lines, and close with the enemy fleet on the same tack, battering the other fleet until one side had had enough and retreated. In Naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end-to-end Any maneouvres would be carried out with the ships remaining in line for mutual protection.

"In order that this order of battle, this long thin line of guns, may not be injured or broken at some point weaker than the rest, there is at the same time felt the necessity of putting in it only ships which, if not of equal force, have at least equally strong sides. Logically it follows, at the same moment in which the line ahead became definitively the order for battle, there was established the distinction between the ships 'of the line,' alone destined for a place therein, and the lighter ships meant for other uses. "^[1] Examples of the latter include acting as scouts and relaying signals between the flagship and the rest of the fleet since, from the flagship, only a small part of the line would be in clear sight. flagship is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels a designation given on account of being either the largest fastest newest most heavily armed or for publicity purposes the most well

The adoption of line of battle tactics had consequences for ship design. The height advantage given by the castles fore and aft was reduced, now that hand-to-hand combat was less essential. The need to maneuver in battle made the top-weight of the castles more of a disadvantage. So they shrank, making the ship-of-the-line lighter and more maneuverable than its forebears for the same combat power. As an added consequence, the hull itself grew larger, allowing the size and number of guns to increase as well.

Evolution of design in the 17th and 18th centuries

Mahmudiye (1829), ordered by the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II and built by the Imperial Naval Arsenal on the Golden Horn in Istanbul, was for many years the largest warship in the world. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Mahmud II ( Ottoman Turkish: محمود ثاني Mahmud-ı sānī) ( July 20, 1785 July 1, 1839 The Golden Horn ( Turkish: Haliç or Altın Boynuz, Greek: Χρυσόν Κέρας – Chrysón Kéras is an inlet of the Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey The 62x17x7 m ship-of-the-line was armed with 128 cannons on 3 decks. She participated in many important naval battles, including the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855) during the Crimean War (1854-1856). The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought She was decommissioned in 1875.

In the 17th century fleets could consist of almost a hundred ships of various sizes, but by the mid 18th century, ship-of-the-line design had settled on a few standard types: older two-deckers (i. A fleet, or naval fleet is a large formation of Warships, and the largest formation in any Navy. A two-decker is a sail Warship, which carried her guns on two fully-armed decks e. with two complete decks of guns firing through side ports) of 50 guns (which were too weak for the battle-line but could be used to escort convoys), two-deckers of between 64 and 90 guns which formed the main part of the fleet, and larger three- or even four-deckers with 98 – 140 guns which were used as admirals' command ships. A convoy is a group of Vehicles (of any type but usually motor vehicles or ships traveling together for mutual support A three-decker is a sail warship which carried her guns on three fully-armed decks Fleets consisting of perhaps 10 – 25 of these ships, with their attendant supply ships and scouting and messenger frigates kept control of the sea-lanes for major European naval powers whilst restricting sea-borne trade of enemies.

The most common size of sail battleship was the "74" (so named for having 74 guns), originally developed by France in the 1730s, and later adopted by all battleship navies. First 74-gun designs The classic 74-gun ship was invented by the French as they rebuilt their navy during the early years of the reign of Louis XV. Until this time the British had 6 sizes of battleship, and they found that their smaller 50- and 60-gun ships were becoming too small for the battle-line, while their 80s and over were 3-deckers and therefore unwieldy and unstable in heavy seas. Their best were 70-gun 2-deckers of about 150ft long on the gundeck, while the new French 74s were around 170ft, and after Britain captured a few of these French ships in the War of Austrian Succession in the 1740s, Britain's new naval designers from 1755, the joint Surveyors Thomas Slade and William Bately, was able to break away from the past and design several classes of 168ft-170ft 74s, starting with the Dublin and Bellona classes, while their successors gradually improved handling and size through the 1780s. The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748 involved nearly all the powers of Europe Sir Thomas Slade (1703/4 - 1771 was an English naval architect most famous for designing HMS ''Victory'', Lord Nelson 's flagship at the Battle of Other navies ended up building 74s also as they had the right balance between offensive power, cost, and manoeuverability. Eventually around half of Britain's ships of the line were 74s. Larger vessels were still built, as command ships, but they were more useful only if they could definitely get close to an enemy, rather than in a battle involving chasing or manoeuvering. The 74 remained the favoured ship until 1811, when Seppings's method of construction enabled bigger ships to be built with more stability. Sir Robert Seppings FRS ( 1767 - September 25, 1840) was an English naval architect

The French Valmy (1847), the largest ship-of-the-line ever built

In a few ships the design was altered long after the ship was launched and in service. In the Royal Navy smaller two-deck 74 or 64 gun ships-of-the-line which could not be used safely in fleet actions had their upper decks removed (or razed), resulting in a very stout, single gun-deck warship which was called a razee. Razee Plane A razee (or razée) is a Sailing ship that has been cut down ( razeed) to reduce the number of decks The resulting razeed ship could be classed as a frigate and was still much stronger. The most successful razeed ship in the Royal Navy was HMS Indefatigable which was commanded by Sir Edward Pellew. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) In fiction Indefatigable under Pellew was selected by C S Forester as the ship on which his (fictional hero Horatio Hornblower spent Admiral Edward Pellew 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB ( April 9, 1757 &ndash January 23, 1833) was a British naval

Weight growth of RN first rate ships of the line 1630-1861, including for comparison the large early ironclads. Note the way steam allowed an increase in the rate of growth.

The largest sailing three-decker battleship ever built was the French Valmy, launched in 1847. She had right sides, which increased significantly the space available for upper batteries, but pejorated the stability of the ship; wooden stabilizers were added under the waterline to address the issue. Valmy was thought to be the largest sort of sailing ship possible, as larger dimensions made the maneuver of riggings impractical with mere manpower. She participated to the Crimean War, and after her return to France later housed the French Naval Academy under the name Borda from 1864 to 1890. The École Navale is the French Naval Academy in charge of the education of the officers of the French Navy.

Combat with ships of the line

Although Spain, the Netherlands and France built huge fleets, and in France's case with better ships, they were rarely able to match the skill of British naval crews. British crews excelled, in part, because they spent much more time at sea, were generally better fed, were well trained in gunnery (allowing a faster rate of fire), and were generally more competent as the Royal Navy based promotion much more on merit rather than purchase. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) Traditionally neglecting the British Army, which, historically, has usually been smaller than the armies of comparably prominent continental countries, Britain devoted more resources to her prized navy. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces.

In the North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean the fleets of Great Britain, the Netherlands, France and Spain fought numerous battles in support of their land armies, and to deny the enemy access to trade routes. The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf. In the Baltic Sea, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Russia did likewise, while in the Mediterranean Sea Russia, Ottoman Turkey, Venice, Portugal, Britain and France battled for its control. The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the

During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain defeated Europe's major naval powers at battles such as at Copenhagen, Cape St. Vincent, Aboukir ("The Nile") and Trafalgar, allowing the Royal Navy to establish itself as the world's primary naval power. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions The Battle of Trafalgar ( 21 October 1805) was a historic sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the Spain, Denmark and Portugal largely stopped building battleships during this time under duress from the British. Britain emerged from the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 with the largest and most professional navy in the world, composed of hundreds of wooden, sail-powered ships of all sizes and classes. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions The Royal Navy had complete naval supremacy across the world following the Napoleonic Wars, and demonstrated this superiority during the Crimean War in the 1850s. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought

Nonetheless, the Napoleonic Wars, as well as the American War of 1812, had illustrated the shortcomings of ships-of-the-line when an enemy resorted to tactics including the large-scale use of privateers. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and the British Empire, particularly Great Britain and her North American colonies A privateer was a private Warship authorized by a country's Government by Letters of marque to attack foreign shipping Both the French and the Americans had demonstrated what a menace small, lightly-armed, but fast, nimble, and, most especially, numerous vessels like sloops and schooners could be when they spread across the wide oceans, operating singly or in small groups. For the military definition of sloop see Sloop-of-war. For the open learning project see SLOOP Project. A schooner (ˈskuːnɚ is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts Schooners were first used by the They targeted the merchant shipping that was Britain's economic lifeblood, and ships-of-the-line were too few, too slow, and too clumsy to be employed against them. Overwhelming firepower was of no use if it could not be brought to bear (the Royal Navy's initial response to Napoleon's privateers, which operated from French New World territories, was to buy Bermuda sloops). The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth specifically the Americas and Australia. The Bermuda sloop is a type of fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel developed on the islands of Bermuda in the 17th century Similarly the East India Company's merchant vessels became lightly armed and quite competent in combat during this period, operating a convoy system under an armed merchantman. The Honourable East India Company ( HEIC) referred to most commonly as the East India Company, also historically and colloquially as John Company, or

Steam power

The first major change to the ship-of-the-line concept was the introduction of steam power as an auxiliary propulsion system. The first military uses of steamships came in the 1810s, and in the 1820s a number of navies experimented with paddle steamer warships. A paddle steamer is a ship or boat driven by a Steam engine that uses one or more Paddle wheels to develop thrust for propulsion. Their use spread in the 1830s, with paddle-steamer warships participating in conflicts like the First Opium War alongside ships-of-the-line and frigates. The First Opium War or the First Anglo-Chinese War was fought between the British East India Company and the Qing Dynasty in China from 1839 ^[2]

Paddle steamers, however, had major disadvantages. The paddle-wheel above the waterline was exposed to enemy fire, while itself preventing the ship from firing broadsides effectively. During the 1840s, the screw propeller emerged as the most likely method of steam propulsion, with both Britain and the USA launching screw-propelled warships in 1843. Through the 1840s, the British and French navies launched increasingly larger and more powerful screw ships, alongside sail-powered ships of the line. In 1845, Viscount Palmerston gave an indication of the role of the new steamships in tense Anglo-French relations, describing the English Channel as a "steam bridge", rather than a barrier to French invasion. "Lord Palmerston" and "Henry Temple" redirect here It was partly because of the fear of war with France that the Royal Navy converted several old 74-gun ships-of-the-line into 60-gun steam-powered blockships, starting in 1845. A blockship is a Ship deliberately sunk to prevent a River, channel, or Canal from being used ^[2] The blockships were "originally conceived as steam batteries solely for harbour defence, but in September 1845 they were given a reduced [sailing] rig rather than none at all, to make them sea-going ships. . . The blockships were to be a cost-effective experiment of great value". ^[3] They subsequently gave good service in the Crimean War. The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought

Le Napoléon (1850), the first steam battleship

The French Navy, however, developed the first purpose-built steam battleship, with the 90-gun Le Napoléon in 1850. Technological context Before the experimental adoption of the screw in warships in the 1840s the only available steam technology was that of the Paddle wheels The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm Technological context Before the experimental adoption of the screw in warships in the 1840s the only available steam technology was that of the Paddle wheels ^[4] She is also considered the first true steam battleship, and the first screw battleship ever. ^[5] Napoleon was armed as a conventional ship-of-the-line, but her steam engines could give her a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h), regardless of the wind conditions: a potentially decisive advantage in a naval engagement.

Eight sister-ships to Le Napoléon were built in France over a period of ten years, as the United Kingdom soon managed to take the lead in production, in number of both purpose-built and converted units. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Altogether, France built 10 new wooden steam battleships and converted 28 from older battleship units, while the United Kingdom built 18 and converted 41. ^[6]

In the end, France and Britain were the only two countries to develop fleets of wooden steam screw battleships, although several other navies made some use of a mixture of screw battleships and paddle-steamer frigates. These included Russia, Turkey, Sweden, Naples, Prussia, Denmark and Austria. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich ^[2]

Decline

The Fighting Temeraire, hero of Trafalgar, ignominiously towed to the breakers by a little steamship. The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken up is an Oil painting executed in 1838 by the English artist J

During the mid 19th century the ship-of-the-line was made obsolete by the ironclad warship, a vessel armoured in iron plate and propelled by the steam engine which enabled it to better choose its placement in battle. An ironclad was a steam-propelled Warship of the later 19th century protected by Iron or Steel armor plates New guns would simultaneously appear as well, and be carried by both wooden and ironclad ships, but the obsolescence of the ship-of-the-line, indeed of all wooden warships, was not fully realized until March 8, 1862 during the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads, when two powerful wooden warships were sunk and destroyed outright by the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia. The Battle of Hampton Roads, often called the Battle of Monitor and Merrimack, was a However, the power implied by the ship-of-the-line would find its way into the ironclad, which would develop during the next few decades into the concept of the modern battleship.

Today

The only original ship-of-the-line remaining today is HMS Victory, preserved as a museum just as she was while under Admiral Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar. Construction In December 1758 the commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a Dry dock for the construction of a new First-rate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson 1st Viscount Nelson 1st Duke of Bronté, KB (29 September 1758– 21 October 1805 was a British Although Victory is in drydock, she is still a fully-commissioned warship in the Royal Navy, and has the honour of being the oldest commissioned warship in any navy world-wide.

The Regalskeppet Vasa sank in the Baltic in 1628 and was lost until 1956. History During the 17th century Sweden went from being a small poor and peripheral northern European kingdom of little influence to one of the major players in continental politics She was then raised intact, in remarkably good condition in 1961, and is presently on display at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Vasa Museum interior1jpg|thumb|200px|right|The main hall of the museum with a model of Vasa to the left and the ship itself to the right ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the At the time she was the largest Swedish warship ever built. Today the Vasa Museum is the most visited museum in Sweden.

The remains of the Mary Rose were raised in 1982 and are on display in Portsmouth, England. The Mary Rose was an English Tudor Carrack warship and one of the first to be able to fire a full Broadside of cannons Although Mary Rose consists of only half of a ship, it is a remarkable example of ship construction from Tudor England, and like Vasa, it contained a wealth of artifacts which told of the daily lives of those onboard.

Also on display in Portsmouth is a sail and steam powered ship HMS Warrior, built in 1860. Warrior was the world’s first iron-hulled, armoured warship powered by steam as well as sail and constructed of wrought iron. The only surviving member of Queen Victoria's Black Battle Fleet, Warrior was used for 50 years as an oil jetty at Milford Haven before being restored to her former glory.

In 1997 a project to rebuild a famous French frigate was able to lay the keel in a dry dock in Rochefort. The frigate "L'Hermione" was the ship that carried Lafayette to the US during the American revolutionary war. The original l'Hermione was sunk in 1793 off the French coast and her wreck was rediscovered in 1992. Fortunately the British had captured her sister ship in the Napoleonic wars and had recorded her construction in great detail which was then available for the reconstruction. The replica is faithful in almost every way to the original. The ship is 56 metres long and carries 26 x 12 pounder armament. She is planned for launch in Summer 2008. The project site is in French but contains many very interesting photos of her construction, a site for the book to accompany her build and launch (in English) gives some summary details.

In fiction

The novels of Patrick O'Brian, C.S. Forester, Alexander Kent and Douglas Reeman, set during the age of sail, deal extensively with ships of the line. Patrick O'Brian, CBE ( 12 December 1914 &ndash 2 January 2000; born as Richard Patrick Russ) was an English Cecil Scott Forester was the Pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith ( August 27 1899 – April 2, 1966) an English The name Alexander Kent can refer to Alexander Kent a cartographer Alexander Kent a still life photographer a pseudonym Douglas Edward Reeman (born 15 October 1924 Thames Ditton) is a British Author who has written many Historical fiction books on the Royal

In science fiction, the term is sometimes extended to space vessels, as in Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy and Gene Roddenberry's TV series Andromeda. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian The Foundation Series is an epic Science fiction series written over a span of forty-four years by Isaac Asimov. Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry (August 19 1921 &ndash October 24 1991 was an American Screenwriter and producer. See Andromeda (disambiguation for other uses of "Andromeda" In David Weber's Honorverse, the concept of the ship of the line is extended into three dimensions as the ship of the wall, a spaceship designed to fight in a series of lines stacked on top of each other to form a plane or "wall". David Mark Weber is an American Science fiction and Fantasy author. Note This is the 'Main' article for the Honor Harrington related Book series and Sub-series by David Weber. This article is about the different types of spacecraft which appear in the Honorverse, a series of Military science-fiction novels written by American author

See also

• Naval tactics in the Age of Sail
• Dutch Navy ships of the line
• French Navy ships of the line
• Royal Navy ships of the line
• Spanish Navy ships of the line
• United States Navy ships of the line
• Portuguese Navy ships of the line
• Regalskeppet Vasa
• Man-of-war

References

• Lavery, Brian. The Ship of the Line, Volume 1: The Development of the Battlefleet, 1650–1850. Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, 1983. ISBN 0870216317.
• Lavery, Brian. The Ship of the Line, Volume 2: Design, Construction and Fittings. Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, 1984. ISBN 0870219537.
• Winfield, Rif. The 50-Gun Ship. London: Caxton Editions, 1997. ISBN 1840673656, ISBN 1861760256.

External links

• Ship of the Line from battleships-cruisers. co. uk - History of the Ship of the Line of the Royal Navy
• Reconstruction of Ship of the Line 'Delft' (1783 - 1797) - Rotterdam (Delfshaven) The Netherlands