Sixth-rate

Sixth-rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.

Rating

Sixth-rate ships typically had a crew of about 150 - 240 men, and measured between 450 and 550 tons. A 28-gun ship would have about 18 officers, including a captain, two lieutenants and the key warrant officers - the master, the Ship's surgeon, the purser, the gunner, the bosun and the carpenter - and four midshipmen. The rest of the men were the crew, or the 'lower deck'. They slept in hammocks and ate their simple meals at tables, sitting on wooden benches. Some were marines while in a strong crew the bulk of the rest were experienced seamen rated 'able' or 'ordinary'. In a weaker crew there would be a large proportion of 'landsmen', adults who were unused to the sea.

The larger Sixth-rates were those of 28 guns (including four smaller guns mounted on the quarterdeck) and were classed as frigates. The smaller Sixth-rates with between 20 and 24 guns, still all ship-rigged and sometimes flush-decked vessels, were known as 'post-ships' because, being "rated", they were still large enough to have a Post-Captain in command, instead of a Lieutenant or Commander.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the by now elderly sixth-rate frigates was found to be too small for the duties expected of a fifth-rate frigate, and was phased out without replacement, although a few lasted in auxiliary roles until after 1815.

In later years sixth-rate frigates were sometimes called "jackass frigates", as they were really not quite big enough for proper frigate duties.

Sixth-Rates in Fiction

HMS Surprise, a fictional frigate captained by Jack Aubrey (based on the actual historical frigate, formerly the French L'Unité, which was captured and renamed by the Royal Navy in 1796) plays a prominent role in many of Patrick O'Brian's popular novels, collectively known as the Aubrey-Maturin series. It was portrayed in the 2004 film Master and Commander.

ee also

*Rating system of the Royal Navy - for ships smaller than sixth-rate

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Rodger, N.A.M. "The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain 1649-1815", London (2004). ISBN 0-713-99411-8
* Bennett, G. "The Battle of Trafalgar", Barnsley (2004). ISBN 1-84415-107-7

External links