The Enterprise-class frigates were the final class of 28-gun sailing frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s of the sixth-rate

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:...

 to be produced for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. These twenty-seven vessels were designed in 1770 by John Williams. A first batch of five ships were ordered as part of the programme sparked by the Falklands Islands emergency

Falklands Crisis (1770)

The Falklands Crisis of 1770 was a diplomatic standoff between Britain and Spain over possession of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. These events were nearly the cause of a war between France, Spain and Britain — the countries poised to dispatch armed fleets to contest the barren...

. Two ships were built by contract in private shipyards, while three others were constructed in the Royal Dockyards using foreign oak.

A second batch of fifteen ships were ordered in 1776 to 1778 to meet the exigencies of the North American situation, and a final group of seven ships followed in 1782 to 1783 with only some minor modifications to include side gangways running flush with the quarter deck and forecastle, and with solid bulkheads along the quarterdeck.

Ships in class

First batch

• Siren
  HMS Siren (1773)
  HMS Siren was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy...
  
  
  • Ordered: 25 December 1770
  • Built by: John Henniker and Company, Chatham.
  • Keel laid: April 1771
  • Launched: 2 November 1773
  • Completed: 5 October 1775 at Chatham Royal Dockyard.
  • Fate: Grounded and abandoned under fire off Point Judith, Connecticut on 6 November 1777.
• Fox
  HMS Fox (1773)
  HMS Fox was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Fox was first commissioned in October 1775 under the command of Captain Patrick Fotheringham.-Fate:...
  
  
  • Ordered: 25 December 1770
  • Built by: Thomas Raymond, Northam (Southampton).
  • Keel laid: May 1771
  • Launched: 2 September 1773
  • Completed: 12 February 1776 at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard.
  • Fate: Captured by the French off Brest on 11 September 1778.
• Surprise
  HMS Surprise (1774)
  HMS Surprise was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Surprise was first commissioned in February 1775 under the command of Captain Robert Linzee.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: January 1771
  • Built by: Woolwich Royal Dockyard.
  • Keel laid: 5 September 1771
  • Launched: 13 April 1774
  • Completed: 15 April 1775
  • Fate: Sold at Woolwich Dockyard on 24 April 1783.
• Enterprise
  • Ordered: January 1771
  • Built by: Deptford Royal Dockyard.
  • Keel laid: 9 September 1771
  • Launched: 24 August 1774
  • Completed: 20 June 1775
  • Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in August 1807.
• Actaeon
  HMS Actaeon (1775)
  HMS Actaeon was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Actaeon was first commissioned in June 1775 under the command of Captain Christopher Atkins.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 5 November 1771
  • Built by: Woolwich Royal Dockyard.
  • Keel laid: October 1772
  • Launched: 18 April 1775
  • Completed: 3 August 1775
  • Fate: Grounded off Fort Sullivan, South Carolina and burnt to avoid capture on 29 June 1776.

Second batch

• Proserpine
  HMS Proserpine (1777)
  HMS Proserpine was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Proserpine was first commissioned in July 1777 under the command of Captain Evelyn Sutton.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 14 May 1776
  • Built by: John Barnard, Harwich.
  • Keel laid: June 1776
  • Launched: 7 July 1777
  • Completed: 23 September 1777 at Sheerness Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked in the Elbe Estuary on 1 February 1799.
• Medea
  HMS Medea (1778)
  HMS Medea was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Medea was first commissioned in May 1778 under the command of Captain William Cornwallis.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 14 May 1776
  • Built by: James Martin Hillhouse
    Hilhouse
    Hilhouse was a shipbuilder in Bristol, England who built merchantman and men-of-war during the 18th and 19th centuries...
    
    , Bristol.
  • Keel laid: June 1776
  • Launched: 28 April 1778
  • Completed: 15 September 1778 at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Fitted as hospital ship 1801. Sold 1805.
• Andromeda
  HMS Andromeda (1777)
  HMS Andromeda was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Andromeda was first commissioned in September 1777 under the command of Captain Henry Byrne.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 14 May 1776
  • Built by: Robert Fabian, East Cowes.
  • Keel laid: July 1776
  • Launched: 18 November 1777
  • Completed: 28 January 1778 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Lost with all hands in a hurricane off Martinique on 11 October 1780.
• Aurora
  HMS Aurora (1777)
  HMS Aurora was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Aurora was first commissioned in July 1777 under the command of Captain James Cumming...
  
  
  • Ordered: 3 July 1776
  • Built by: John Perry & Company, Blackwall.
  • Keel laid: July 1776
  • Launched: 7 June 1777
  • Completed: 9 August 1777 at Woolwich Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold at Chatham on 3 November 1814.
• Sibyl
  HMS Sibyl (1779)
  HMS Sibyl was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Sibyl was first commissioned in October 1778 under the command of Captain Thomas Pasley.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 24 July 1776
  • Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
  • Keel laid: 10 December 1776
  • Launched: 2 January 1779
  • Completed: 13 March 1779 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked off Madagascar on 26 July 1798.
• Brilliant
  HMS Brilliant (1779)
  HMS Brilliant was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Brilliant was first commissioned in July 1779 under the command of Captain John Ford....
  
  
  • Ordered: 9 October 1776
  • Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
  • Keel laid: February 1777
  • Launched: 15 July 1779
  • Completed: 4 September 1779 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in November 1811.
• Pomona
  HMS Pomona (1778)
  HMS Pomona was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Pomona was first commissioned in September 1778 under the command of Captain William Waldegrave....
  
  
  • Ordered: 7 March 1777
  • Built by: Thomas Raymond, Chapel (Southampton).
  • Keel laid: 8 May 1777
  • Launched: 22 September 1778
  • Completed: 17 December 1778 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in August 1811.
• Crescent
  HMS Crescent (1779)
  HMS Crescent was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Crescent was first commissioned in about September 1779 under the command of Captain Charles Hope.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 19 July 1777
  • Built by: James Martin Hillhouse
    Hilhouse
    Hilhouse was a shipbuilder in Bristol, England who built merchantman and men-of-war during the 18th and 19th centuries...
    
    , Bristol.
  • Keel laid: 19 August 1777
  • Launched: March 1779
  • Completed: 30 June 1779 at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Captured by the French on 19 June 1781.
• Nemesis
  HMS Nemesis (1780)
  HMS Nemesis was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Nemesis was first commissioned in January 1780 under the command of Captain Richard Bligh.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 30 September 1777
  • Built by: Jolly, Leathers & Barton, Liverpool.
  • Keel laid: November 1777
  • Launched: 23 January 1780
  • Completed: 22 June 1780 at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold for breaking up at Plymouth Dockyard on 9 June 1814.
• Resource
  HMS Resource (1778)
  HMS Resource was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Resource was first commissioned in July 1778 under the command of Captain Patrick Fotheringham.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 30 September 1777
  • Built by: John Randall & Company, Rotherhithe.
  • Keel laid: November 1777
  • Launched: 10 August 1778
  • Completed: 2 October 1778 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Renamed Enterprise on 17 April 1806. Sold at Deptford Dockyard on 28 August 1816.
• Mercury
  HMS Mercury (1779)
  HMS Mercury was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built during the American War of Independence and serving during the later years of that conflict...
  
  
  • Ordered: 22 January 1778
  • Built by: Peter Mestaer, Rotherhithe.
  • Keel laid: 25 March 1778
  • Launched: 9 December 1779
  • Completed: 24 February 1780 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Taken to pieces at Woolwich Dockyard in January 1814.
• Pegasus
  HMS Pegasus (1778)
  HMS Pegasus was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Pegasus was first commissioned in May 1779 under the command of Captain John Bazely.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 21 February 1778
  • Built by: Deptford Dockyard.
  • Keel laid: 20 June 1778
  • Launched: 1 June 1779
  • Completed: 20 July 1779.
  • Fate: Sold at Deptford Dockyard to break up on 28 August 1816.
• Cyclops
  HMS Cyclops (1779)
  HMS Cyclops was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Cyclops was first commissioned in July 1779 under the command of Captain John Robinson.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 6 March 1778
  • Built by: James Menetone & Son, Limehouse.
  • Keel laid: 3 April 1778
  • Launched: 31 July 1779
  • Completed: 26 September 1779 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 1 September 1814.
• Vestal
  HMS Vestal (1779)
  HMS Vestal was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Vestal was first commissioned in November 1779 under the command of Captain George Keppel.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 18 March 1778
  • Built by: Robert & John Batson, Limehouse.
  • Keel laid: 1 May 1778
  • Launched: 24 December 1779
  • Completed: 25 February 1780 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold at Barbados in February 1816.
• Laurel
  HMS Laurel (1779)
  HMS Laurel was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Laurel was first commissioned in October 1779 under the command of Captain Thomas Lloyd...
  
  
  • Ordered: 30 April 1778
  • Built by: Thomas Raymond, Chapel (Southampton).
  • Keel laid: 3 June 1778
  • Launched: 27 October 1779
  • Completed: 4 January 1780 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked in a hurricane off Martinique on 11 October 1780.

Third batch

• Thisbe
  HMS Thisbe (1783)
  HMS Thisbe was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Thisbe first was commissioned in December 1787 under the command of Captain George Robinson.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 23 February 1782
  • Built by: Thomas King, Dover.
  • Keel laid: September 1782
  • Launched: 25 November 1783
  • Completed: 19 April 1784 at Deptford Dockyard.
• Circe
  HMS Circe (1785)
  HMS Circe was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1785 but not completed or commissioned until 1790...
  
  
  • Ordered: 6 March 1782
  • Built by: Henry Ladd, Dover.
  • Keel laid: December 1782
  • Launched: 30 September 1785
  • Completed: 2 November 1790 at Woolwich Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked off Great Yarmouth on 17 November 1803.
• Rose
  HMS Rose (1783)
  HMS Rose was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Rose was first commissioned in August 1783 under the command of Captain James Hawkins.-Fate:...
  
  
  • Ordered: 15 March 1782
  • Built by: Joshua Stewart & Hall, Sandgate.
  • Keel laid: June 1782
  • Launched: 1 July 1783
  • Completed: 23 October 1783 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked off Jamaica on 28 June 1794.
• Hussar
  HMS Hussar (1784)
  HMS Hussar was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Hussar was first commissioned in May 1790 under the command of Captain Eliab Harvey.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 26 March 1782
  • Built by: Fabian, Clayton & Willson, Sandgate.
  • Keel laid: June 1782
  • Launched: 1 September 1784
  • Completed: November 1787 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked off Brittany 27 December 1796
• Alligator
  HMS Alligator (1787)
  HMS Alligator was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was originally ordered during the American War of Independence but was completed too late to see service during the conflict...
  
  
  • Ordered: 7 May 1782
  • Built by: Philemon Jacobs, Sandgate.
  • Keel laid: December 1782
  • Launched: 18 April 1787
  • Completed: 18 July 1790 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold at Plymouth Dockyard 21 July 1814.
• Dido
  HMS Dido (1784)
  HMS Dido was one of the twenty-seven Enterprise class of 28-gunsixth-rate frigates in service with the Royal Navy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Dido was commissioned in September 1787 under the command of Captain Charles Sandys...
  
  
  • Ordered: 5 June 1782
  • Built by: Joshua Stuart & Hall, Sandgate.
  • Keel laid: September 1782
  • Launched: 27 November 1784
  • Completed: October 1787 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 3 April 1817.
• Lapwing
  HMS Lapwing (1785)
  HMS Lapwing was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Lapwing was first commissioned in October 1790 under the command of Captain Paget Bayley.- References :...
  
  
  • Ordered: 22 October 1782
  • Built by: Thomas King, Dover.
  • Keel laid: February 1783
  • Launched: 21 September 1785
  • Completed: 19 May 1791 at Woolwich Dockyard.
  • Fate: Taken to pieces at Plymouth Dockyard in May 1828.