The Seringapatam class frigates, were a successful class of British 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...

 46-gun sailing frigates. The first vessel of the class was HMS Seringapatam. The Seringapatam's design was based on the French frigate Président

French frigate Président

The Président was a 40-gun frigate of the Gloire Class in the French Navy, built to a 1802 design by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. She served with the French Navy from her completion in 1804 until late 1806 when the Royal Navy captured her...

, which the British had captured in 1806. The Seringapatam was originally ordered as a 38-gun frigate, but the re-classification of British warships which took effect in February 1817 raised this rating to 46-gun.

The Admiralty ordered six further ships to this design - including three ships which had originally been ordered as Leda class frigate

Leda class frigate

The Leda-class frigates, were a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. The design of Leda was based on the Sané-designed Hébé, a French Hébé class frigate that the British 44-gun fifth rate HMS Rainbow captured in 1782...

s, but the Seringapatam design was subsequently altered to produce a Modified version which was labelled the Druid sub-Class, and three of the ships formerly ordered to the Seringapatam original design (Madagascar, Nemesis and Jason) were re-ordered to this modified design. Subsequently a further modification of the design was produced, which was labelled the Andromeda sub-Class, and the remaining three of the ships formerly ordered to the Seringapatam original design (Manilla, Tigris and Statira) were re-ordered to this modified design. Further vessels were ordered to both modified designs, but the majority of these were subsequently cancelled. Both modified types are listed below.

• HMS Seringapatam
  • Builder: East India Company, Bombay Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 21 August 1813
  • Laid down: November 1817
  • Launched: 5 September 1819
  • Completed: 10 April 1821 at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Receiving ship at Cape of Good Hope
    Cape of Good Hope
    The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
    
     in July 1847; coal hulk 1852, broken up between 1873 and 1883.

Druid sub-class (1st modified version of Seringapatam Class)

• HMS Druid
  • Builder: Pembroke Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 23 July 1817
  • Laid down: August 1821
  • Launched: 1 July 1825
  • Completed: 21 December 1825 at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold to be broken up in April 1863.
• HMS Nemesis - had first been ordered to Modified Leda class, later to original Seringapatam design
  • Builder: Pembroke Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 23 July 1817
  • Laid down: August 1823
  • Launched: 19 August 1826
  • Completed: never completed; laid up at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Broken up in July 1866.
• HMS Madagascar
  HMS Madagascar (1822)
  HMS Madagascar was a 46-gun fifth-rate Seringapatam-class frigate, built at Bombay and launched on 15 November 1822.The Bavarian Prince Otto who had been selected as the King of Greece was delivered to his new capital Nafplion in 1833....
  
   - had first been ordered to original Seringapatam design
  • Builder: East India Company, Bombay Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 5 April 1819
  • Laid down: October 1821
  • Launched: 15 November 1822
  • Completed: January 1829 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold to be broken up at Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
    
     5 May 1863.
• HMS Leda
  • Builder: Pembroke Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 15 May 1821
  • Laid down: October 1824
  • Launched: 15 April 1828
  • Completed: never completed; laid up at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold to be broken up on 15 May 1906.
• HMS Hotspur
  • Builder: Pembroke Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 15 May 1821
  • Laid down: July 1825
  • Launched: 9 October 1828
  • Completed: never completed; laid up at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Renamed Monmouth 1868. Sold to be broken up in 1902.
• HMS Africaine
  • Builder: Chatham Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 8 January 1822
  • Laid down: September 1825
  • Launched: 20 December 1827
  • Completed: 3 March 1828.
  • Fate: Sold to Trinity House
    Trinity House
    The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British territorial waters...
    
     in May 1867.
• HMS Eurotas
  • Builder: Chatham Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 13 September 1824
  • Laid down: February 1827
  • Launched: 19 February 1829
  • Completed: 20 March 1828.
  • Fate: Sold to be broken up in November 1865.
• A further vessel, HMS Jason, also first ordered to Modified Leda Class, then to the original Seringapatam design, was again re-ordered subsequently, now to the Andromeda design, but was never finally built.

Andromeda sub-Class (2nd modified version of Seringapatam Class)

• HMS Andromeda
  • Builder: East India Company, Bombay Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 5 April 1827
  • Laid down: August 1827
  • Launched: 6 January? 1829
  • Completed: not completed - laid up at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Provision hulk November 1846. Sold to be broken up on 24 December 1863.
• HMS Seahorse
  • Builder: Pembroke Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 9 January 1823
  • Laid down: November 1826
  • Launched: 22 July 1830
  • Completed: never completed as sailing frigate; laid up at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Converted to a steam/screw-driven frigate 1845-47. Screw mortar frigate 1856. Coal hulk 1870, renamed Lavinia. Sold to be broken up 1902.
• HMS Stag
  • Builder: Pembroke Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 9 January 1823
  • Laid down: April 1828
  • Launched: 2 October 1830
  • Completed: 9 July 1831 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Broken up in August 1866.
• HMS Maeander
  HMS Maeander (1840)
  HMS Meander was launched at Chatham on 5 May 1840. She was a Seringapatam-class frigate, armed originally with 16 32-pounder carronades and 28 18-pounder carronades. The length of her keel was 133 feet and her beam 42 feet; her burthen was 1221 tons. As a frigate her complement was 222 seamen, 39...
  
  
  • Builder: Chatham Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 13 September 1824
  • Laid down: February 1829
  • Launched: 5 May 1840
  • Completed: 17 January 1848.
  • Fate: Hulked 1857. Wrecked at Ascension in July 1870.
• HMS Forth
  • Builder: Pembroke Dockyard.
  • Ordered: 9 June 1825
  • Laid down: November 1828
  • Launched: 1 August 1833
  • Completed: never completed as a sailing frigate; laid up at Plymouth Dockyard.
  • Fate: Converted to a steam/screw-driven frigate 1845-47. Screw mortar frigate 1856. Coal hulk 1869, renamed Jupiter. Sold to be broken up 1883.

The remaining ships ordered or re-ordered to this design were never completed:

• HMS Jason - ordered 23 July 1817 from Woolwich Dockyard, firstly to Modified Leda Class
  Leda class frigate
  The Leda-class frigates, were a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. The design of Leda was based on the Sané-designed Hébé, a French Hébé class frigate that the British 44-gun fifth rate HMS Rainbow captured in 1782...
  
   design, later altered to original Seringapatam design in October 1820, to Druid design in 1822, and finally to Andromeda design in 1826; cancelled 7 February 1831.
• HMS Statira - ordered 23 July 1817 from Plymouth Dockyard, originally to Modified Leda Class
  Leda class frigate
  The Leda-class frigates, were a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. The design of Leda was based on the Sané-designed Hébé, a French Hébé class frigate that the British 44-gun fifth rate HMS Rainbow captured in 1782...
  
  , later altered to original Seringapatam design in October 1820, to Druid design in 1822, and finally to Andromeda design in 1826; cancelled 31 August 1832.
• HMS Manilla - ordered 5 April 1819 from East India Company's Bombay Dockyard, firstly ordered to original Seringapatam design, later altered to Andromeda design in 1826; cancelled 7 February 1831.
• HMS Euphrates - ordered 22 October 1820 from Portsmouth Dockyard, cancelled 7 February 1831.
• HMS Pique - ordered 25 October 1820 from Plymouth Dockyard, cancelled 16 June 1832.
• HMS Tigris - ordered 25 October 1820 from Plymouth Dockyard (utilising teak frames from Bombay Dockyard), firstly to original Seringapatam design, later altered to Andromeda design in 1826; cancelled 31 August 1832.
• HMS Pique - ordered 25 October 1820 from Plymouth Dockyard, cancelled 16 June 1832.
• HMS Spartan - ordered 13 September 1824 from Portsmouth Dockyard, cancelled 7 February 1831.
• HMS Theban - ordered 13 September 1824 from Portsmouth Dockyard, cancelled 7 February 1831.
• HMS Inconstant - ordered 9 June 1825 from Sheerness Dockyard, cancelled 9 March 1832.
• HMS Orpheus - ordered 9 June 1825 from Chatham Dockyard, cancelled 7 February 1831.
• HMS Severn - ordered 9 June 1825 from Plymouth Dockyard, cancelled 7 February 1831.
• HMS Tiber - ordered 9 June 1825 from Portsmouth Dockyard, cancelled 7 February 1831.

Sources

• David Lyon and Rif Winfield (2004), The Sail and Steam Navy List 1815-1889. Chatham Publishing, London. ISBN 1-86176-032-9.