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Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Ajax |
Operators | Royal Navy |
Preceded by | Mars class |
Succeeded by | Pompée class |
In service | 17 January 1798–1881 |
Completed | 2 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ship of the line |
Length |
|
Beam | 49 ft 3 in (15.0 m) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Armament |
|
Notes | Ships in class include: Kent, Ajax |
The Ajax-class ships of the line were a class of two 74-gun third rates of the Royal Navy. They were grouped in with the large class of 74s, as they carried 24-pounders on their upper gun decks, rather than the 18-pounders of the middling and common class 74s. The design of the Ajax class was a lengthened (by 11 ft (3.4 m)) version of the Valiant class, the lines of which were taken from the French Invincible, captured in 1747.