Amazon-class frigate (1773)

Ambuscade fighting Bayonnaise, by Jean-François Hue
Class overview
Builders
OperatorsUnited Kingdom, France
Built1773-1787
In commission1773-1830
Completed18
General characteristics
Type32-gun fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen6892994 (bm)
Length
  • 126 ft 6+12 in (38.6 m) (overall)
  • 104 ft 7+12 in (31.9 m) (keel)
Beam35 ft 2+14 in (10.7 m)
Draught8 ft (2.4 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 1+12 in (3.7 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement220
Armament
  • Upper deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 18-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 18-pounder carronades

The Amazon-class frigates of 1773, made up of 32-gun fifth rates with a main battery of 12-pounder guns.[1] They were designed by the Surveyor of the Navy, John Williams during his employment by the Admiralty.[2]

The class comprised eighteen ships; Amazon, Ambuscade and Thetis were launched in 1773; the second batch - Cleopatra, Amphion, Orpheus, Juno, Success, Iphigenia, Andromache, Syren, Iris, Greyhound, Meleager, Castor, Solebay, Terpsichore and Blonde - were launched in 1779 to 1787.[3]

  1. ^ "British Amazon Class". threedecks.org. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  2. ^ "John Williams (1700-1786)".
  3. ^ Winfield p. 193