Post ship

Post ship was a designation used in 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...

 during the Age of Sail to describe a ship 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:...

 (see rating system of the Royal Navy

Rating system of the Royal Navy

The rating system of the Royal Navy and its predecessors was used by the British Royal Navy between the beginning of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century to categorise sailing warships, initially classing them according to their assigned complement of men, and later according to the...

) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carrying fewer than 28 guns), but by virtue of being a rated ship (with at least 20 guns), had to have as its captain a post captain rather than a lieutenant

Lieutenant (naval)

LieutenantThe pronunciation of lieutenant is generally split between or , generally in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries, and or , generally associated with the United States. See lieutenant. is a commissioned officer rank in many nations' navies...

 or commander. Thus ships with 20 to 26 guns were post ships, though this situation changed after 1817.

Sea officers often referred to the post ships as frigates though technically they were not frigates. The vessels were frigate-built, with traditional quarterdeck

Quarterdeck

The quarterdeck is that part of a warship designated by the commanding officer for official and ceremonial functions. In port, the quarterdeck is the most important place on the ship, and is the central control point for all its major activities. Underway, its importance diminishes as control of...

s and forecastle

Forecastle

Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...

s, but, unlike true frigates, they lacked an orlop platform amidships. They had a high center of gravity, which made them slow and unweatherly, but they were seaworthy. In peacetime the Royal Navy frequently used them as substitutes for frigates, especially in distant foreign stations. In wartime their slowness meant they were used mostly as convoy escorts.

Unlike other uses of the term "ship

Ship

Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...

" during this era, "post ship" in itself implies nothing on the rig

Rig

Rig may refer to:* Rig, Something that a dog pulls when Mushing* Rig, a slang term referring to a tractor unit* Drilling rig, a structure housing equipment used to drill or extract oil from underground* Gaming rig, a PC built for high-performance gaming...

 of the vessel; however, all sixth rates were in practice ship-rigged

Full rigged ship

A full rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel with three or more masts, all of them square rigged. A full rigged ship is said to have a ship rig....

, i.e. were square-rigged on three masts.

For an example of a post ship, see HMS Camilla

HMS Camilla (1776)

HMS Camilla was a Royal Navy 20-gun Sphinx-class post ship. Camilla was built in Chatham Dockyard to a design by John Williams and launched in 1776...

. She was one of ten Sphinx-class

Sphinx class post ship

The Sphinx-class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten post ships built to a 1773 design by John Williams. Although smaller than true frigates, post ships were often referred to incorrectly as frigates....

post ships built during the 1770s.

The United States Navy termed ships of this type "third-class frigates."

Sources

• Winfield, Rif (2007) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714 - 1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. (One of a series dealing with British sailing warships; other volumes cover 1603-1714 and 1793-1817) Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
• Winfield, Rif (2005) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793 - 1817. (London: Chatham), p. 226.