The Pallas class sailing frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s were a series of three ships built to a 1791 design by John Henslow, which served 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 French Revolutionary

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

 and Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

.

The trio were all dockyard-built in order to utilise spare shipbuilding capacity. The orders were originally assigned in December 1790 to the Royal Dockyards at Plymouth

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

 and Portsmouth, but in February 1791 the orders were transferred to Chatham

Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

 and Woolwich

Woolwich

Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...

 Dockyards respectively.

They were the first 32-gun Royal Navy frigates designed to be armed with the eighteen-pounder cannon on their upper deck, the main gun deck of a frigate. Besides their primary battery of twenty-six 18-pounders, they also carried four 6-pounders together with four 32-pounder carronades on the quarter deck, and another two 6-pounders together with two 32-pounder carronades on the forecastle.

Ships in class

• HMS Stag
  • Builder: Chatham Royal Dockyard
    Chatham Dockyard
    Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
    
    
  • Ordered: 9 December 1790
  • Laid down: March 1792
  • Launched: 12 July 1794
  • Completed: 5 October 1794
  • Fate: Wrecked in a storm in Vigo Bay 6 September 1800, and burnt the next day.

• HMS Unicorn
  HMS Unicorn (1794)
  HMS Unicorn was a 32-gun fifth-rate Pallas-class frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Chatham. This frigate served in both the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, including a medal action early in her career...
  
  
  • Builder: Chatham Royal Dockyard
    Chatham Dockyard
    Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
    
    
  • Ordered: 9 December 1790
  • Laid down: March 1792
  • Launched: 12 July 1794
  • Fate: Broken up March 1815 at Deptford Dockyard.

• HMS Pallas
  • Builder: Woolwich Royal Dockyard
  • Ordered: 9 December 1790
  • Laid down: May 1792
  • Launched: 19 December 1793
  • Completed: 5 March 1794.
  • Fate: Wrecked in a storm in Cawsand Bay, Plymouth
    Plymouth
    Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
    
    on 4 April 1798