Venus-class frigate

Class overview
Built	1756–1758
In commission	1758–1809
Completed	3
General characteristics
Tons burthen	718 18⁄94 bm (as designed)
Length	128 ft 4 in (39 m) (gundeck) 106 ft 2.625 in (32.37548 m) (keel)
Beam	35 ft 8 in (11 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 4 in (4 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	240
Armament	36 guns comprising: Upper deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns Quarterdeck: 8 × 6-pounder guns Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns

The Venus-class frigates were three 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.[1]

The 36-gun frigates, of which this was to be the only British design in the era of the 12-pounder frigate, carried the same battery of twenty-six 12-pounders as their 32-gun predecessors; the only difference lay in the secondary armament on the quarterdeck 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.[1]

The Venus-class were faster than the Southampton-class, making up to 13 knots ahead of strong winds and ten knots while close-hauled compared with Southampton-class speeds of 12 and 8 knots respectively. Both Venus- and Southampton-class frigates were highly maneuverable and more capable of withstanding heavy weather than their French equivalents during the Seven Years' War.[2]

Ships in class

Ship	Ordered	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate	Ref.
HMS Pallas	13 July 1756	William Wells & Company, Deptford Dockyard	July 1756	30 August 1757	8 October 1757 at Deptford	Run ashore due to leaks and burnt on Sao Jorge (Azores) on 12 February 1783	[3]
HMS Venus	13 July 1756	John Okill, Liverpool.	16 August 1756	11 March 1758	30 June 1758 at Liverpool	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	[3]
HMS Brilliant	29 July 1756	Thomas Bucknall, Plymouth Dockyard	28 August 1756	27 October 1757	20 November 1757	Sold at Deptford Dockyard, 1 November 1776	[3]

References

1. Winfield 2007, p. 191
2. Gardner 1992, p. 98
3. Winfield 2007, pp. 191–193

Bibliography

• Gardner, Robert (1992). The First Frigates: Nine-Pounder and Twelve-Pounder Frigates, 1748-1815. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0851776019.
• Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006.