The 1706 Establishment was the first formal establishment of dimensions for ships built for 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...

. Two previous sets of dimensions had been established, though only for particular shipbuilding programmes; the 1706 Establishment was intended to be permanent.

Origins

Dimensions for ships had been established for the "Thirty Ships" building programme of 1677, and though they were used for ships as late as 1695, this was merely because the ships built to them were regarded as successful, so there was no perceived need to change them. An additional establishment of dimensions was laid down for the 1691 "Twenty-seven Ships" shipbuilding programme of seventeen 80-gun and ten 60-gun two-decker ships of the line, though it was abandoned before the programme had completed, with the final four 80-gun ships being constructed with three instead of two gundecks.

The origins of the formalised 1706 Establishment can be traced to February 1705, when Prince George, the Lord High Admiral at the time, ordered the Navy Board

Navy Board

The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...

 to determine a set of dimensions to be established for second-rate

Second-rate

In the British Royal Navy, a second rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th century second rates had fewer guns and were originally two-deckers or had only partially armed third gun decks. The term in no way implied...

 ships, several of which were in need of rebuilding. Though the second rates appear to have been the central focus of the order, the Board was also directed to consider dimensions for ships of the third (80 and 70 guns), fourth (60 and 50 guns), and fifth rates (40 and 30 guns). First rates were not included as their rarity was considered to warrant individual attention, whilst smaller vessels were felt to be cheap enough to allow experimentation. The Navy Board used existing ships considered to be the best in their respective classes for these dimensions.

Implementation

The Navy Board produced sets of dimensions for ships from 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 guns (they decided against doing so for 30-gun ships). After a last-minute adjustment brought about by Admiral George Churchill, the dimensions were sent out to the dockyards together with an order that they should be properly adhered to, and that they should apply to rebuilds as well as new ships. The implementation of the Establishment - the first of many - essentially declared the Navy's intention to not develop the sailing warship any further, and so brought about an era of notorious conservatism in naval administration. Though there would be no significant technological changes until the following century, naval architecture had clearly not reached its apogee in the early 18th century.

90-gun Second Rates

Seven existing Second Rates were rebuilt to the 1706 Establishment, including three whose reconstruction was ordered in 1704-1705. These first three were the Marlborough of 1706 (rebuilt from the old Saint Michael), Blenheim of 1709 (rebuilt from the old Duchess) and the Vanguard of 1710. The other four ships were the Neptune of 1710, Ossory

HMS Ossory (1682)

HMS Ossory was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1682 at Portsmouth Dockyard. She was renamed HMS Prince in 1705....

 of 1711, Sandwich

HMS Sandwich (1679)

HMS Sandwich was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1679 at Harwich.She underwent a rebuild at Chatham Dockyard, from where she was relaunched on 21 April 1712 as a 90-gun second rate built to the 1706 Establishment...

 of 1715 and Barfleur of 1716.

These ships were originally armed as 96-gun ships under the 1703 Establishment of Guns. They were re-armed as 90-gun ships under the 1716 Establishment of Guns, with heavier 32pdrs and 9pdrs on the lower and upper decks (the middle deck 18pdrs were unaltered), but with one pair of 6pdrs removed from each of the partial decks above to leave:

• Quarter deck - 10 x 6 pdrs
• Forecastle - 2 x 6 pdrs
• Roundhouse - nil

80-gun Third Rates

Eight of the older type of two-decker 80-gun ships were rebuilt as three-deckers under the 1706 Establishment - the Boyne and Humber launched in 1708, the Russell in 1709, the Dorsetshire in 1712, the Newark

HMS Newark (1695)

HMS Newark was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Hull on 3 June 1695.She was rebuilt according to the 1706 Establishment at Chatham Dockyard, and relaunched on 29 July 1717. During this rebuild an extra gundeck was added to make her a three-decker, instead of the...

 and Shrewsbury in 1713, Cambridge in 1715 and Torbay in 1719. In addition, two new ships were built to this specification as replacements for ships lost in 1707 - the Devonshire

HMS Devonshire (1710)

HMS Devonshire was a three-deck 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 12 December 1710. Her design was according to the 1706 Establishment of dimensions as laid down for 80-gun ships....

 and Cumberland

HMS Cumberland (1710)

HMS Cumberland was a three-deck 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 27 December 1710...

 both being launched in 1710.

The ships were initially armed with 80 guns as per the 1703 Establishment of Guns shown in the table to the right. The 1716 Establishment of Guns replaced the 24pdr guns on the lower deck by an equal number of 32pdrs. It also added one pair of 6pdrs to the upper deck, removing one pair of 6pdrs from the quarter deck.

70-gun Third Rates

Following the loss of four 70-gun ships in a single night during the Great Storm on 27 November 1703, four replacements were ordered from the Royal Dockyards just three weeks later - the Northumberland

HMS Northumberland (1705)

HMS Northumberland was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1705.She was rebuilt twice during her career, firstly at Woolwich Dockyard, where she was reconstructed according to the 1719 Establishment and relaunched on 13 July 1721...

, Resolution

HMS Resolution (1705)

HMS Resolution was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 15 March 1705.Resolution was lost when she ran ashore in 1707....

 and Stirling Castle

HMS Stirling Castle (1705)

HMS Stirling Castle was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 21 September 1705....

 being launched in 1705 and the Nassau in 1707. Another four were ordered in 1705-1706, again from the Dockyards - the Elizabeth

HMS Elizabeth (1706)

HMS Elizabeth was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 1 August 1706.On 4 September 1733 orders were issued directing Elizabeth to be taken to pieces and rebuilt according to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Chatham, from...

 and Restoration

HMS Restoration (1706)

HMS Restoration was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 1 August 1706, after the previous had been lost in the Great Storm of 1703....

 launched in 1706, while another Resolution

HMS Resolution (1708)

HMS Resolution was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Sir Joseph Allin according to the 1706 Establishment at Deptford Dockyard, and launched on 25 March 1708.Resolution was wrecked in 1711....

 and Captain were launched in 1708. Subsequently, two more ships were newbuilt (the Grafton

HMS Grafton (1709)

HMS Grafton was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by Swallow and Fowler, of Limehouse, London to the dimensions of the 1706 Establishment, and was launched on 9 August 1709....

 and Hampton Court

HMS Hampton Court (1709)

HMS Hampton Court was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Rotherhithe according to the 1706 Establishment and launched on 19 August 1709....

, both launched in 1709) and three rebuilt from existing Third Rates (the Edgar and Yarmouth in 1709, and Orford in 1713) by contract; and another five were rebuilt in the Dockyards - the Royal Oak, Expedition, Suffolk

HMS Suffolk (1680)

HMS Suffolk was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by contract of 20 February 1678 by Sir Henry Johnson at his Blackwall Yard and launched in May 1680...

, Monmouth and Revenge.

The ships were initially armed with 70 guns as per the 1703 Establishment of Guns shown in the table to the right. Under the 1716 Establishment, a thirteenth pair of 24pdrs was added on the lower deck, while the demi-culverins (9pdrs) on the upper deck were upgraded to 12pdrs. An extra pair of 6pdrs was added to the quarter deck, while the 3pdrs were removed from the roundhouse to retain the total at 70 guns.

60-gun Fourth Rates

Four 60-gun ships were newbuilt to the 1706 Establishment - the Plymouth launched in 1708, the Lion and Gloucester in 1709, and the Rippon in 1712 - while four existing 60-gun ships were rebuilt to the same specification from 1714 onwards - the Montagu, Medway, Kingston and Nottingham.

The ships were initially armed with 64 guns as per the 1703 Establishment of Guns shown in the table to the right. The 1716 Establishment of Guns replaced the 18pdrs on the lower deck by 24pdrs, and reduced the ships to 60 guns by removing one pair of 6pdrs from the quarter deck and another pair from the forecastle to result in a composition of:

• • Lower deck: 24 × 24 pdrs
  • Upper deck: 26 × 9 pdrs
  • Quarter deck: 8 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

50-gun Fourth Rates

Eleven new 50-gun ships were built to the 1706 Establishment (all as replacements for Fourth Rates lost during the war years from 1703 onwards) - the Salisbury launched in 1707, the Falmouth, Ruby, Chester and Romney in 1708, the Pembroke in 1710, the Bristol, Gloucester and Ormonde in 1711, the Advice in 1712 and the Strafford in 1715. Another existing eight ships were rebuilt to the same specification - the Dragon in 1707, the Warwick and Bonaventure in 1711, the Assistance in 1713, the Worcester in 1714, and the Rochester, Panther and Dartmouth in 1716.

These vessels were initially armed as 54-gun ships to the 1703 Establishment of Guns (see table to right). Under the 1716 Establishment of Guns, they were re-classed as 50-gun ships with the following armament:

• • Lower deck: 22 × 18 pdrs
  • Upper deck: 22 × 9 pdrs
  • Quarter deck: 4 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs

40-gun Fifth Rates

Fifteen 42-gun ships were newbuilt to the dimensions of the 1706 Establishment - the Ludlow Castle, Gosport, Portsmouth and Hastings launched in 1707, the Pearl, Mary Galley, Sapphire and Southsea Castle in 1708, the Enterprise, Adventure and Fowey in 1709, Charles Galley in 1710, Launceston in 1711, Faversham in 1712 and Lynn in 1715. Two similar ships were built on speculation by the contractor William Johnson at Blackwall

Blackwall

-Places:*Blackwall, London - An area of east London, UK**Blackwall Tunnel - The main crossing of the River Thames in east London**The former shipyard Blackwall Yard**The former shipyard at Leamouth, London of Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company and others....

 and purchased by the Navy Board - the Looe in 1707 and Diamond in 1708. A further 40-gun ship was also built nominally to the same specification - the Royal Anne Galley of 1709 - but she emerged longer and leaner than the others.

The ships were initially armed to the 1703 Establishment of Guns (see table to right). Under the 1716 Establishment, they became 40-gun ships, with an armament as follows:

• • Lower deck: 20 × 12 pdrs
  • Upper deck: 20 × 6 pdrs
  • Quarter deck: nil
  • Forecastle: nil

30-gun Fifth Rates

While no formal set of recommendations for 30-gun ships was produced by the Navy Board, a de-facto set of dimensions detailed below was adopted which were used for the construction of two new 32-gun Fifth Rates (Sweepstakes in 1708 and Scarborough in 1711), while the Bedford Galley was rebuilt to slightly smaller dimensions in 1709:

• Tons burthen: 416 bm
  Builder's Old Measurement
  Builder's Old Measurement is the method of calculating the size or cargo capacity of a ship used in England from approximately 1720 to 1849. It estimated the tonnage of a ship based on length and maximum beam...
  
  
• Length: 108 in 0 in (32.92 m) (gundeck)
  90 in 0 in (27.43 m) (keel)
• Beam: 29 in 6 in (8.99 m)
• Hold depth: 12 in 0 in (3.66 m)
• Complement: 145 officers and men (110 in peacetime)
• Armament: 32 guns(1703 Establishment)
  • Lower deck: 4 × 9 pdrs
  • Upper deck: 22 × 6 pdrs
  • Quarter deck: 6 x 4 pdrs
  • Forecastle: nil

The 1716 Establishment of Guns altered their armament to 30 guns:

• • Lower deck: 8 × 9 pdrs
  • Upper deck: 20 × 6 pdrs
  • Quarter deck: 2 x 4 pdrs
  • Forecastle: nil