1759 class of British fifth-rate frigates
HMS Alarm in 1758
Class overview Name Niger classBuilt 1757–1766 In commission 1759–1814 Completed 11 General characteristics Type Frigate Tons burthen 67967 ⁄94 Length 125 ft (38 m) Beam 35 ft 2 in (11 m) Depth of hold 12 ft (4 m) Sail plan Full-rigged ship Complement 220 Armament
32 guns comprising:
Upperdeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pounder guns
Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns
The Niger -class frigatessailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy . They were designed in 1757 by Sir Thomas Slade , and were an improvement on his 1756 design for the 32-gun Southampton -class
Slade's design was approved in September 1757, on which date four ships were approved to be built to these plans - three by contract and a fourth in a royal dockyard. Seven more ships were ordered to the same design between 1759 and 1762 - three more to be built by contract and four in royal dockyards. Stag and Quebec were both reduced to 28-gun sixth rates in 1778, but were then restored to 32-gun fifth rates in 1779.
Ships in class
Stag Ordered: 19 September 1757
Built by: Thomas Stanton & Company, Rotherhithe.
Keel laid: 26 September 1757
Launched: 4 September 1758
Completed: 4 December 1758 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in July 1783. Alarm Ordered: 19 September 1757
Built by: John Barnard & John Turner, Harwich.
Keel laid: 26 September 1757
Launched: 19 September 1758
Completed: 24 June 1759 at the builder's shipyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in September 1812. Aeolus Ordered: 19 September 1757
Built by: Thomas West, Deptford.
Keel laid: September 1757
Launched: 29 November 1758
Completed: 18 January 1759 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Renamed Guernsey on 7 May 1800. Taken to pieces at Sheerness Dockyard in April 1801. Niger Ordered: 19 September 1757
Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
Keel laid: 7 February 1758
Launched: 25 September 1759
Completed: 24 November 1759.
Fate: Renamed Negro 1813. Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 29 September 1814. Montreal Ordered: 6 June 1759
Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
Keel laid: 26 April 1760
Launched: 15 September 1761
Completed: 10 October 1761.
Fate: Captured by French squadron off Gibraltar on 1 May 1779. Quebec Ordered: 16 July 1759
Built by: John Barnard & John Turner, Harwich.
Keel laid: July 1759
Launched: 14 July 1760
Completed: 9 August 1760 at the builder's shipyard.
Fate: Blew up and sunk in action against French frigate La Surveillante off Ushant on 6 October 1779. Pearl Ordered: 24 March 1761
Built by: Chatham Dockyard.
Keel laid: 6 May 1761
Launched: 27 March 1762
Completed: 14 May 1762.
Fate: Renamed Prothee 19 March 1825. Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 14 January 1832. Emerald Ordered: 24 March 1761
Built by: Hugh Blaydes, Hull.
Keel laid: 13 May 1761
Launched: 8 June 1762
Completed: October 1762 at the builder's shipyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in October 1793. Winchelsea Ordered: 11 August 1761
Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
Keel laid: 29 March 1762
Launched: 31 May 1764
Completed: 26 June 1766.
Fate: Sold at Sheerness Dockyard on 3 November 1813. Glory Ordered: 30 January 1762
Built by: Hugh Blaydes & Thomas Hodgson, Hull.
Keel laid: March 1762
Launched: 24 October 1763
Completed: December 1763 at the builder's shipyard.
Fate: Taken to pieces at Woolwich Dockyard in January 1786. Aurora Ordered: 8 December 1762
Built by: Chatham Dockyard.
Keel laid: 10 October 1763
Launched: 13 January 1766
Completed: 24 July 1769.
Fate: Lost with all hands in the Indian Ocean (disappeared, fate unknown) in January 1770.
References
Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates , Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9 .
David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List , Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. ISBN 0-85177-617-5 .
Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792 , Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6 .
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