The Enterprise-class frigates were the final class of 28-gun sailing frigates of the sixth-rate to be produced for the Royal Navy. These twenty-seven vessels were designed in 1770 by John Williams. A first batch of five ships were ordered as part of the programme sparked by the Falklands Islands emergency. Two ships were built by contract in private shipyards, while three others were constructed in the Royal Dockyards using foreign oak.
A second batch of fifteen ships were ordered in 1776 to 1778 to meet the exigencies of the North American situation, and a final group of seven ships followed in 1782 to 1783 with only some minor modifications to include side gangways running flush with the quarterdeck and forecastle, and with solid bulkheads along the quarterdeck.
Ships in class First batch Siren Ordered: 25 December 1770 Built by: John Henniker and Company, Chatham. Keel laid: April 1771 Launched: 2 November 1773 Completed: 5 October 1775 at Chatham Royal Dockyard. Fate: Grounded and abandoned under fire off Point Judith, Connecticut on 6 November 1777. Fox Ordered: 25 December 1770 Built by: Thomas Raymond, Northam (Southampton). Keel laid: May 1771 Launched: 2 September 1773 Completed: 12 February 1776 at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard. Fate: Captured by the French off Brest on 11 September 1778. Surprise Ordered: January 1771 Built by: Woolwich Royal Dockyard. Keel laid: 5 September 1771 Launched: 13 April 1774 Completed: 15 April 1775 Fate: Sold at Woolwich Dockyard on 24 April 1783. Enterprise Ordered: January 1771 Built by: Deptford Royal Dockyard. Keel laid: 9 September 1771 Launched: 24 August 1774 Completed: 20 June 1775 Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in August 1807. Actaeon Ordered: 5 November 1771 Built by: Woolwich Royal Dockyard. Keel laid: October 1772 Launched: 18 April 1775 Completed: 3 August 1775 Fate: Grounded off Fort Sullivan, South Carolina and burnt to avoid capture on 29 June 1776.
Second batch Proserpine Ordered: 14 May 1776 Built by: John Barnard, Harwich. Keel laid: June 1776 Launched: 7 July 1777 Completed: 23 September 1777 at Sheerness Dockyard. Fate: Wrecked in the Elbe Estuary on 1 February 1799. Medea Ordered: 14 May 1776 Built by: James Martin Hillhouse, Bristol. Keel laid: June 1776 Launched: 28 April 1778 Completed: 15 September 1778 at Plymouth Dockyard. Fate: Fitted as hospital ship 1801. Sold 1805. Andromeda Ordered: 14 May 1776 Built by: Robert Fabian, East Cowes. Keel laid: July 1776 Launched: 18 November 1777 Completed: 28 January 1778 at Portsmouth Dockyard. Fate: Lost with all hands in a hurricane off Martinique on 11 October 1780. Aurora Ordered: 3 July 1776 Built by: John Perry & Company, Blackwall. Keel laid: July 1776 Launched: 7 June 1777 Completed: 9 August 1777 at Woolwich Dockyard. Fate: Sold at Chatham on 3 November 1814. Sibyl Ordered: 24 July 1776 Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard. Keel laid: 10 December 1776 Launched: 2 January 1779 Completed: 13 March 1779 at Portsmouth Dockyard. Fate: Wrecked off Madagascar on 26 July 1798. Brilliant Ordered: 9 October 1776 Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard. Keel laid: February 1777 Launched: 15 July 1779 Completed: 4 September 1779 at Portsmouth Dockyard. Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in November 1811. Pomona Ordered: 7 March 1777 Built by: Thomas Raymond, Chapel (Southampton). Keel laid: 8 May 1777 Launched: 22 September 1778 Completed: 17 December 1778 at Portsmouth Dockyard. Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in August 1811. Crescent Ordered: 19 July 1777 Built by: James Martin Hillhouse, Bristol. Keel laid: 19 August 1777 Launched: March 1779 Completed: 30 June 1779 at Plymouth Dockyard. Fate: Captured by the French on 19 June 1781. Nemesis Ordered: 30 September 1777 Built by: Jolly, Leathers & Barton, Liverpool. Keel laid: November 1777 Launched: 23 January 1780 Completed: 22 June 1780 at Plymouth Dockyard. Fate: Sold for breaking up at Plymouth Dockyard on 9 June 1814. Resource Ordered: 30 September 1777 Built by: John Randall & Company, Rotherhithe. Keel laid: November 1777 Launched: 10 August 1778 Completed: 2 October 1778 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Renamed Enterprise on 17 April 1806. Sold at Deptford Dockyard on 28 August 1816. Mercury Ordered: 22 January 1778 Built by: Peter Mestaer, Rotherhithe. Keel laid: 25 March 1778 Launched: 9 December 1779 Completed: 24 February 1780 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Taken to pieces at Woolwich Dockyard in January 1814. Pegasus Ordered: 21 February 1778 Built by: Deptford Dockyard. Keel laid: 20 June 1778 Launched: 1 June 1779 Completed: 20 July 1779. Fate: Sold at Deptford Dockyard to break up on 28 August 1816. Cyclops Ordered: 6 March 1778 Built by: James Menetone & Son, Limehouse. Keel laid: 3 April 1778 Launched: 31 July 1779 Completed: 26 September 1779 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 1 September 1814. Vestal Ordered: 18 March 1778 Built by: Robert & John Batson, Limehouse. Keel laid: 1 May 1778 Launched: 24 December 1779 Completed: 25 February 1780 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Sold at Barbados in February 1816. Laurel Ordered: 30 April 1778 Built by: Thomas Raymond, Chapel (Southampton). Keel laid: 3 June 1778 Launched: 27 October 1779 Completed: 4 January 1780 at Portsmouth Dockyard. Fate: Wrecked in a hurricane off Martinique on 11 October 1780. Third batch Thisbe Ordered: 23 February 1782 Built by: Thomas King, Dover. Keel laid: September 1782 Launched: 25 November 1783 Completed: 19 April 1784 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Sold to be broken up, 9 August 1815. Circe Ordered: 6 March 1782 Built by: Henry Ladd, Dover. Keel laid: December 1782 Launched: 30 September 1785 Completed: 2 November 1790 at Woolwich Dockyard. Fate: Wrecked off Great Yarmouth on 17 November 1803. Rose Ordered: 15 March 1782 Built by: Joshua Stewart & Hall, Sandgate. Keel laid: June 1782 Launched: 1 July 1783 Completed: 23 October 1783 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Wrecked off Jamaica on 28 June 1794. Hussar Ordered: 26 March 1782 Built by: Fabian, Clayton & Willson, Sandgate. Keel laid: June 1782 Launched: 1 September 1784 Completed: November 1787 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Wrecked off Brittany 27 December 1796 Alligator Ordered: 7 May 1782 Built by: Philemon Jacobs, Sandgate. Keel laid: December 1782 Launched: 18 April 1787 Completed: 18 July 1790 at Deptford Dockyard. Fate: Sold at Plymouth Dockyard 21 July 1814. Dido Ordered: 5 June 1782 Built by: Joshua Stuart & Hall, Sandgate. Keel laid: September 1782 Launched: 27 November 1784 Completed: October 1787 at Portsmouth Dockyard. Fate: Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 3 April 1817. Lapwing Ordered: 22 October 1782 Built by: Thomas King, Dover. Keel laid: February 1783 Launched: 21 September 1785 Completed: 19 May 1791 at Woolwich Dockyard. Fate: Taken to pieces at Plymouth Dockyard in May 1828.
References David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List, Brasseys Publications, London 1993. Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792, Seaforth Publishing, London 2007.
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