Richmond-class frigate
1907 illustration of Juno
Built 1756– 1763 In commission 1758– 1811 Completed 6
Tons burthen
646 12/94 bm (first batch)
677 40/94 bm (modified design)
Length 127 ft (39 m) Beam
34 ft (10 m) (first batch)
34 ft 6 in (10.52 m) (modified design)
Depth of hold
11 ft 9 in (3.58 m) (first batch)
12 ft .5 in (3.670 m) (modified design)
Sail plan Full-rigged ship Complement 210 Armament
Upperdeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pounder guns
Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns
The Richmond -class frigates were 32-gun sailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy . They were designed in 1756 by the Navy's Surveyor, William Bately , and were his equivalent of the Southampton -class frigates designed by Bately's co-Surveyor, Thomas Slade . They were faster ships than the Southampton s, and were weatherly craft, remaining dry even in high seas. Three ships were ordered to this design between 1756 and 1757, while a second batch of three ships was ordered between 1761 and 1762 to a slightly modified design.
Ships in class
First batch
Richmond
Ordered: 12 March 1756
Built by: John Buxton, Deptford.
Keel laid: April 1756
Launched: 12 November 1757
Completed: 7 December 1757 at Deptford Dockyard .
Fate: Burnt at Sardinia to avoid capture on 19 May 1793.
Juno
Ordered: 1 June 1756
Built by: William Alexander, Rotherhithe.
Keel laid: June 1756
Launched: 29 September 1757
Completed: 6 November 1757 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Burnt at Rhode Island to avoid capture on 5 August 1778.
Thames
Ordered: 11 January 1757
Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
Keel laid: February 1757
Launched: 10 April 1758
Completed: 29 May 1758 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Woolwich Dockyard in September 1803.
Second (modified) batch
Lark
Ordered: 24 March 1761
Built by: Elias Bird, Rotherhithe.
Keel laid: 5 May 1761
Launched: 10 May 1762
Completed: 9 July 1762 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Burnt at Rhode Island to avoid capture on 5 August 1778.
Boston
Ordered: 24 March 1761
Built by: Robert Inwood, Rotherhithe.
Keel laid: 5 May 1761
Launched: 11 May 1762
Completed: 16 July 1762 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Plymouth Dockyard in May 1811.
Jason
Ordered: 30 January 1762
Built by: Robert Batson, Limehouse.
Keel laid: 1 April 1762
Launched: 13 June 1763
Completed: 19 September 1765 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Sold at Chatham Dockyard on 10 February 1785.
References
David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List , Brasseys Publications, London 1993.
Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792 , Seaforth Publishing, London 2007.