 Design of the class
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Apollo-class frigate |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Narcissus class |
| Succeeded by | Aigle class |
| Built | 1798–1819 |
| In service | 1799–1908 |
| Completed | 27 |
| Lost | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Fifth-rate frigate |
| Tons burthen | 943 53/94 bm (as designed) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 38 ft 2 in (11.63 m) |
| Draught | 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 264 |
| Armament |
|
The Apollo-class sailing frigates were a series of twenty-seven ships that the British Admiralty commissioned be built to a 1798 design by Sir William Rule. Twenty-five served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, two being launched too late.
Of the 25 ships that served during the Napoleonic Wars, only one was lost to enemy action. Of the entire class of 27 ships, only two were lost to wrecking, and none to foundering.
The Admiralty ordered three frigates in 1798–1800. Following the Peace of Amiens, it ordered a further twenty-four sister-ships to the same design between 1803 and 1812. The last was ordered to a fresh 38-gun design. Initially, the Admiralty split the order for the 24 vessels equally between its yards and commercial yards, but two commercial yards failed to perform and the Admiralty transferred these orders to its own dockyards, making the split 14–10 as between the Admiralty and commercial yards.