Thames-class frigate

Thames-class frigate design
Class overview
NameThames-class frigate
Builders
Operators Royal Navy
Preceded byMaidstone class
Cost
  • Circe: £16,610[2]
  • Jason: £16,626[3]
  • Hebe: £15,386[3]
  • Minerva: £15,017[3]
Built1804–1806
In service1804–1818
Planned8
Completed7
Cancelled1
General characteristics [1]
TypeFifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen657 88⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 127 ft (38.7 m) (gundeck)
  • 107 ft 4 in (32.7 m) (keel)
Beam34 ft (10.4 m)
Depth of hold11 ft 9 in (3.6 m)
PropulsionSails
Complement215 (later 220)
Armament
  • Gundeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 6 × 24-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 24-pounder carronades

The Thames-class frigate was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate class of eight ships of the Royal Navy based on the Richmond-class frigate designed by William Bately. The ships were ordered to the older design, which was of a smaller type of ship compared to more modern designs, so that they could be built quickly and cheaply in time to assist in defending against Napoleon's expected invasion of Britain. The class received several design changes to the Richmond class, being built of fir instead of oak, with these changes making the class generally slower and less weatherly than their predecessors, especially when in heavy weather conditions. The first two ships of the class, Pallas and Circe, were ordered on 16 March 1804 with two more ordered on 1 May and the final four on 12 July. The final ship of the class, Medea, was cancelled on 22 October before construction could begin but the other seven ships of the class were commissioned between 1804 and 1806.

While no ship of the class served for a long period, the last being out of service by 1818, the class still provided important service in a wide variety of locations during the Napoleonic War and War of 1812 including the Mediterranean Sea, English Channel, and the Leith, Leeward Islands, Lisbon, Downs, Jamaica, and North America stations. Key actions of the class include Pallas in the Walcheren Campaign, Jason in the action of 22 January 1809, and Circe in the invasion of Martinique.

  1. ^ a b Winfield, British Warships 1793–1817, p. 495
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Winfield3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Winfield5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Winfield7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).