| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Grampus class |
| Succeeded by | Drake class |
| Built | 1732 |
| In commission | 1732–1751 |
| Completed | 8 |
| Lost | 2 |
| Retired | 6 |
| General characteristics (common specification) | |
| Type | Sloop-of-war |
| Tons burthen | 200 bm |
| Length | (see individual vessels) |
| Beam | (see individual vessels) |
| Depth of hold | (see individual vessels) |
| Sail plan | Snow |
| Complement | 80 |
| Armament |
|
The Bonetta group was a batch of eight 200-ton sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy during 1732. They followed on two previous sloops - the Grampus and the larger Wolf - built a year earlier. Seven were ordered on 4 May 1732 to a common specification prepared by Jacob Acworth, the Surveyor of the Navy. An additional vessel – Trial (which had been ordered on 16 November 1731, but suspended on 7 January 1732) – was re-ordered on 6 July to be built to the same specification. The actual individual design was left up to the Master Shipwright in each Royal Dockyard at which they were built (except for Hound and Trial, which were built by Deptford's Master Shipwright – Richard Stacey – but were to a design by Jacob Acworth). All the draughts were approved by the Navy Board on 28 June 1732.
Although fitted with snow rigs and initially armed with eight 3-pounder guns (except Shark which was rigged as a ketch and fitted with eight 4-pounders), this group was built with seven pairs of gunports on the upper deck (each port flanked by two pairs of row-ports).