Venus-class frigate

Class overview
Built1756–1758
In commission1758–1809
Completed3
General characteristics
Tons burthen718 1894 bm (as designed)
Length
  • 128 ft 4 in (39 m) (gundeck)
  • 106 ft 2.625 in (32.37548 m) (keel)
Beam35 ft 8 in (11 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 4 in (4 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement240
Armament
  • 36 guns comprising:
  • Upper deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • Quarterdeck: 8 × 6-pounder guns
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns

The Venus-class frigates were three 36-gun sailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy. They were designed in 1756 by Sir Thomas Slade, and were enlarged from his design for the 32-gun Southampton-class frigates, which had been approved four months earlier.[1]

The 36-gun frigates, of which this was to be the only British design in the era of the 12-pounder frigate, carried the same battery of twenty-six 12-pounders as their 32-gun predecessors; the only difference lay in the secondary armament on the quarterdeck which was here doubled to eight 6-pounders. Slade's 36-gun design was approved on 13 July 1756, on which date two ships were approved to be built by contract to these plans. A third ship was ordered about two weeks later, to be built in a royal dockyard.[1]

The Venus-class were faster than the Southampton-class, making up to 13 knots ahead of strong winds and ten knots while close-hauled compared with Southampton-class speeds of 12 and 8 knots respectively. Both Venus- and Southampton-class frigates were highly maneuverable and more capable of withstanding heavy weather than their French equivalents during the Seven Years' War.[2]

  1. ^ a b Winfield 2007, p. 191
  2. ^ Gardner 1992, p. 98