The Coventry-class frigates were 28-gun sixth rate frigates of the Royal Navy, principally in service during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. They were designed in 1756 by Britain's Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Thomas Slade, and were largely modeled on , which was regarded as an exemplar among small frigates due to its speed and maneuverability. The 1750s were a period of considerable experimentation in ship design, and Slade authorized individual builders to make "such alterations withinboard as may be judged necessary" in final construction.
A total of twelve Coventry-class frigates were built in oak during the Seven Years' War. Eleven of these were ordered from private shipyards and built over the relatively short period of three years; the twelfth was completed following the close of the War in a royal dockyard after its original contractor became bankrupt.
The five vessels in the second batch were built fir hulls rather than oak. The use of fir instead of oak increased the speed of construction but reduced the frigate's durability over time. This batch also differed in external appearance to the oak-built frigates, as they had a square tuck stern. The third and fourth batches returned to oak frames.
More than a quarter-century after the design was produced, two further oak-built ships to this design were ordered to be built by contract in October 1782. One of these was cancelled a year later, when the builder became bankrupt.
Ships First batch ShipBuilderPrice and contract rate Naval fitoutLaid downLaunchedCommissionedOut of serviceFateRef. Henry Adams, Buckler's Hard£5,130 at £8.15s per ton£3,977May 1756May 1757May 1757 1783 Captured by French Navy Winfield, pp.227231 Henry Bird, Rotherhithe£5,541 at £9.9s per ton £3,879May 1756April 1757March 1757 1828 Sold at Sheerness Dockyard Gorill & Pownall, Liverpool£4,910 at £8.7s per ton Not recordedSeptember 1756February 1758February 1758 1778 Wrecked off Long Island Thomas Seward, Rochester£5,277 at £9.0s per ton £4,085October 1756February 1758January 1758 1794 Broken up at Sheerness Dockyard
Second batch Admiralty's intention for the second batch was for a total of ten frigates, swiftly and cheaply built from fir rather than oak. The design for these vessels was modified to square the stern, increasing stability in rough seas and allowing a marginal improvement in storage capacity. Construction tenders were offered to private shipyards but the proposed prices exceeded Admiralty's budget. The batch was therefore reduced to just five ships, to be built using government labour at the Royal Dockyards. The use of fir significantly reduced construction time from the average nine months for the first batch of oak-hulled frigates to three and a half months for the fir-hulled ships. However the fir timbers were significantly less durable: the four vessels that served without being captured averaged only nine years at sea before being broken up or sold. All of the second batch of vessels were out of service before any of the first batch had been retired. Admiralty returned to using oak-built hulls for all subsequent ships in the Coventry-class.
ShipBuilderPrice and contract rate Naval fitoutLaid downLaunchedCommissionedOut of serviceFateRef. Israel Pownoll, Woolwich Dockyard£6,314£2,879April 1757July 1757September 1757 1770 Sold out of naval service John Lock, Chatham Dockyard£11,313 including fitout Not recordedMay 1757July 1757August 1757 1762 Captured by French Navy Adam Hayes, Deptford Dockyard£9,813 including fitout Not recordedMay 1757August 1757October 1757 1765 Broken up at Portsmouth Dockyard Israel Pownoll, Woolwich Dockyard£6,929 £2,866May 1757October 1757November 1757 1764 Sold out of naval service John Lock, Chatham Dockyard£11,228 including fitout Not recordedMay 1757September 1757November 1757 1766 Sold out of naval service
Third batch
9 oak-built ships ShipBuilderPrice and contract rate Naval fitoutLaid downLaunchedCommissionedOut of serviceFateRef. Thomas Staunton & Co, Rotherhithe£6,229 at £10.12s per ton£3,953June 1757January 1758January 1758 1778 Captured by French Navy Robert Inwood, Rotherhithe£6,156 at £10.10s per ton£4,049June 1757May 1758May 1758 1776 Sold at Deptford Dockyard Pleasant Fenn, Cowes Shipyard, East Cowes£5,276 at £9.0s per ton£4,227June 1757September 1758May 1758 1778 Burned to prevent capture, Rhode Island Winfield 2007, p.230 Moody Janvrin, Bursledon£5,276 at £10.0s per ton£4,275June 1757October 1758October 1757 1761 Wrecked off Barbuda Henry Adams, Buckler's Hard£5,423 at £9.5s per ton£4,906June 1757July 1758October 1758 1780 Broken up, Deptford Dockyard Winfield 2007, pp. 229230
Argo Ordered: 19 September 1757 Built by: Henry Bird, Rotherhithe. Keel laid: 22 September 1757 Launched: 20 July 1758 Completed: 29 January 1759 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in November 1776. Milford Ordered: 19 September 1757 Built by: Richard Chitty, Milford. Keel laid: November 1757 Launched: 20 September 1759 Completed: 28 December 1759 at builder's shipyard. Fate: Sold at Woolwich Dockyard on 17 May 1785. Guadeloupe Ordered: 19 September 1757 (originally ordered from John Williams, Neyland (Pembs.), but the ordered was transferred to Plymouth Dockyard following Williams's bankruptcy in 1758.) Re-ordered: 29 June 1758 Built by: Plymouth Dockyard. Keel laid: 8 May 1759 Launched: 5 December 1763 Completed: 11 July 1764. Fate: Scuttled in York River, Virginia on 10 October 1781, but salved by the French Navy in which service she was maintained until 1786. Carysfort Ordered: 4 February 1764 Built by: Sheerness Dockyard. Keel laid: June 1764 Launched: 23 August 1766 Completed: 11 August 1767 Fate: Sold at Deptford Dockyard on 28 April 1813.
Final batch 2 oak-built ships, only 1 completed Hind Ordered: 2 October 1782 Built by: Sheerness Dockyard. Keel laid: February 1783 Launched: 22 July 1785 Completed: 24 November 1787 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in July 1811. Laurel Ordered: 22 October 1782 Built by: Philemon Jacobs, Sandgate. Cancelled: 7 October 1783.
References
Bibliography David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List, Brasseys Publications, London 1993. .