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First-rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 for its largest ships of the line
Ship of the line

A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century, to take part in the Naval tactics in the Age of Sail known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would maneuver to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear....
, those mounting 100 guns or more on three gundecks.

First-rate vessels carried over 800 crew and displaced in excess of 2,000 ton
Ton

Units of massThere are several similar units of mass or volume called the ton:Others*The long ton is used for petroleum products such as aviation fuel....
s.

he original rating system from the 1670s, first-rates were ships of exactly 100 guns, but as time passed, ships were built with more guns, and they too were called first-rates.

In addition to the rated number of guns (which were generally the heaviest calibre available), first-rates could mount a number of carronade
Carronade

The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK....
s to augment their short-range firepower.

Although very powerful, first-rates tended to be slow and unhandy.






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First-rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 for its largest ships of the line
Ship of the line

A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century, to take part in the Naval tactics in the Age of Sail known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would maneuver to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear....
, those mounting 100 guns or more on three gundecks.

First-rate vessels carried over 800 crew and displaced in excess of 2,000 ton
Ton

Units of massThere are several similar units of mass or volume called the ton:Others*The long ton is used for petroleum products such as aviation fuel....
s.

Rating

In the original rating system from the 1670s, first-rates were ships of exactly 100 guns, but as time passed, ships were built with more guns, and they too were called first-rates.

In addition to the rated number of guns (which were generally the heaviest calibre available), first-rates could mount a number of carronade
Carronade

The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK....
s to augment their short-range firepower.

Although very powerful, first-rates tended to be slow and unhandy. For stability, the lowest gundeck had to be very close to the water, and in anything but calm water the gunports had to be kept closed, rendering the entire deck useless.

Ships of this size were also extremely expensive to operate. As a result, the few first-rates (the Royal Navy had only five in 1794) were typically reserved as commanding admiral
Admiral

Admiral is the military rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above Vice Admiral and below Admiral of the Fleet/Fleet Admiral....
s' flagship
Flagship

A flagship is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, a designation given on account of being either the largest, fastest, newest, most heavily armed or, for publicity purposes, the most well known....
s.

These being the most powerful ships of the navy, it was common to compare them with the navies of other nations, and frequently one sees the largest ships of those navies being referred as first-rates, even though only the Royal Navy used the formal six-step rating system.

Ships


Only two first-rate ships survive. The most famous (and only fully-restored) first-rate ship is HMS Victory
HMS Victory

HMS Victory is a first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, started in 1759 and launched in 1765, most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar....
, Admiral Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the United Kingdom Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy , during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
. The hull of the 112-gun HMS St Lawrence, which was built and operated entirely in fresh water during the War of 1812
War of 1812

The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , was fought from 1812 to 1815.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S....
, survives intact in shallow water near shore in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands begin....
 and is a popular diving attraction. Two other famous first rate ships were , which was broken up in 1841, and , which was broken up in 1825. Both these ships had 100 guns. The Santísima Trinidad held 120 guns.

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