Venus class frigate

The Venus class frigates were 36-gun sailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy. They were designed in 1756 by Sir Thomas Slade, and were enlarged from his design for the 32-gun Southampton class frigates, which had been approved four months earlier. The 36-gun frigates, of which this was the only British design in the era of the 12-pounder frigate, carried the same battery of twenty-six 12-pounders as the 32-gun predecessors; the only difference lay in the secondary armament on the quarter deck, which was here doubled to eight 6-pounders.

Slade's 36-gun design was approved on 13 July 1756, on which date two ships were approved to be built by contract to these plans. A third ship was ordered about two weeks later, to be built in a Royal Dockyard.

Ships in class

* "Pallas"
** Ordered: 13 July 1756
** Built by: William Wells & Company, Deptford.
** Keel laid: July 1756
** Launched: 30 August 1757
** Completed: 8 October 1757 at Deptford Dockyard.
** Fate: Run ashore due to leaks and burnt on Sao Jorge (Azores) on 12 February 1783.
* "Venus"
** Ordered: 13 July 1756
** Built by: John Okill, Liverpool.
** Keel laid: 16 August 1756
** Launched: 11 March 1758
** Completed: 30 June 1758 at the builder's shipyard.
** Fate: Reduced to 32 guns in 1792. Renamed "Heroine" on 14 July 1807. Paid off 1809 and laid up. Sold to break up at Deptford Dockyard on 22 September 1828.
* "Brilliant"
** Ordered: 29 July 1756
** Built by: Plymouth Dockyard.
** Keel laid: 28 August 1756
** Launched: 27 October 1757
** Completed: 20 November 1757.
** Fate: Sold at Deptford Dockyard on 1 November 1776.

References

* Robert Gardiner, "The First Frigates", Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9.
* David Lyon, "The Sailing Navy List", Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. ISBN 0-85177-617-5.
* Rif Winfield, "British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792", Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.