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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Amazon class of 1795 |
| Operators | Royal Navy |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Fifth-rate frigate |
| Tons burthen | 925 87⁄94 (bm) |
| Length | |
| Beam | 38 ft 2 in (11.6 m) |
| Depth of hold | 13 ft 6 in (4 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 264 |
| Armament |
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The Amazon-class frigates of 1795 were a set of four 36-gun sailing frigates built for the Royal Navy and designed by William Rule. The first pair were constructed from oak and launched in July 1795. A second pair had already been ordered in January that year, to be made from pitch pine, one launched in February and the other in March of 1796. All four of the new class carried a main battery of twenty-six 18-pounder (8.2 kg) long guns supplemented with eight 32-pounder (15 kg) carronades and ten long guns, 9-pounder (4.1 kg) for the first pair, 12-pounder (5.4 kg) for the second batch, on the upperworks.
They served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars although the first of the class, HMS Amazon, only lasted until 1796, wrecked following an action on 13 January with a French ship-of-the-line. HMS Emerald on the other hand was not broken up until 1836. Her long and eventful career included a part in the 1804 invasions of St Lucia and Surinam. The two fir-built frigates; HMS Trent and Glenmore remained in use until 1823 and 1814 respectively, although both ended up on harbour duty, as receiving ships.
All of the class saw action, capturing and destroying enemy ships. Notable engagements include Emerald’s chase of a Spanish convoy in the action of 7 April 1800, Trent’s cutting out of a Spanish ship and schooner off Puerto Rico in 1799 and Glenmore’s capture of the East Indiaman Calcutta in the same year.