Wolf-class sloop

Class overview
Operators Royal Navy
Preceded byDrake class
Succeeded byBaltimore class
Built1741–1743
In commission1742–1763
Completed3
Lost2
General characteristics (common design)
TypeSloop-of-war
Tons burthen243 74⁄94 bm
Length
  • 87 ft 6 in (26.7 m) (gundeck)
  • 73 ft 4.75 in (22.4 m) (keel)
Beam25 ft 0 in (7.6 m)
Depth of hold
  • 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) (Wolf)
  • 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) (Otter and Grampus)
Sail planSnow
Complement110
Armament
  • 10 (later 14) × 4-pounder guns;
  • also 12/14 x ½-pounder swivel guns

The Wolf class was a class of three sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy during 1741–43. They were ordered in 1741, 1742 and 1743 respectively, and were the first to increase significantly in size from the 200 burthen tons which had been the normal size from 1728, to a larger 244 tons; they were to a common design prepared by Jacob Allin, the Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard (who was subsequently appointed in 1745 to share the post of Surveyor of the Navy).

These were all built by contract with Thames-side shipbuilders, each at a fixed price of £1,793.8.0d (or £7.7.0d per ton for a nominal 244 burthen tons). After launching, each was fitted out at a Royal Dockyards - Wolf at Deptford at a cost of ££1,653.12.2d, Otter also at Deptford at a cost of £1,582.8.7d, and Grampus at Woolwich Dockyard at a cost of £1,838.13.10d. They were two-masted vessels carrying a snow rig. For the latter two vessels, the design was modified by the addition of 6 inches to their depth in hold.

Although initially armed with ten 4-pounder guns, this class was built with eight pairs of gunports on the upper deck (each port flanked by two pairs of row-ports), and the two survivors in 1744 had their ordnance increased to fourteen guns.