The Adventure-class ship was a class of eight 44-gun sailing two-decker warships of the Royal Navy, classed as a fifth rate like a frigate, but carrying two complete decks of guns, a lower battery of 18-pounders and an upper battery of 12-pounders. This enabled the vessel to deliver a broadside of 318 pounds.
The class was designed in 1782 by Edward Hunt, Surveyor of the Navy, as a successor to the Roebuck class design of Sir Thomas Slade. The design saw a slight increase in breadth over the Roebuck class, but was otherwise very similar.
Like the Roebuck class, the Adventure class were not counted by the Admiralty as frigates; although sea officers sometimes casually described them and other small two-deckers as frigates, the Admiralty officially never referred to them as such. By 1750, the Admiralty strictly defined frigates as ships of 28 guns or more, carrying all their main battery (24, 26 or even 28 guns) on the upper deck, with no guns or openings on the lower deck (which could thus be at sea level or even lower). A frigate might carry a few smaller guns – 3-pounders or 6-pounders, later 9-pounders – on their quarterdeck and (perhaps) on the forecastle. The Adventure-class ships were two-deckers with complete batteries on both decks, and hence not frigates.
Eight ships were ordered during 1782 and completed to this design, although none were ready to take part in the American War of Independence. Most were not brought into service until the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War, and survived to serve the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War.
Ships in class
Woolwich Builder: Thomas Calhoun & John Nowlan, Bursledon Ordered: 5 March 1782 Laid down: January 1783 Launched: 15 December 1785 Completed: 1786 at Portsmouth Dockyard Fate: Wrecked off Barbuda on 11 September 1813. Severn Builder: James Martin Hillhouse, Bristol Ordered: 17 April 1782 Laid down: June 1783 Launched: 29 April 1786 Completed: 17 July 1793 at Plymouth Dockyard Fate: Wrecked off Jersey on 21 December 1804 Sheerness Builder: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard Ordered: 26 April 1782 Laid down: December 1783 Launched: 16 July 1787 Completed: 20 December 1787 at Portsmouth Dockyard Fate: Wrecked off Trincomalee on 8 January 1805 Chichester Builder: Crookenden, Taylor & Smith, Itchenor Ordered: 13 May 1782 Laid down: August 1782 Launched: 10 March 1785 Completed: 28 October 1787 at Portsmouth Dockyard Fate: Broken up in July 1815 Adventure Builder: Perry & Hankey, Blackwall Yard Ordered: 5 June 1782 Laid down: October 1782 Launched: 19 July 1784 Completed: 28 October 1784 at Woolwich Dockyard Fate: Broken up in September 1816 Expedition Builder: John Randall, Rotherhithe Ordered: 5 June 1782 Laid down: October 1783 Launched: 29 October 1784 Completed: March 1786 at Deptford Dockyard Fate: Broken up in February 1817 Gorgon Builder: Perry & Hankey, Blackwall Yard Ordered: 19 June 1782 Laid down: December 1782 Launched: 27 January 1785 Completed: 15 December 1787 at Portsmouth Dockyard Fate: Broken up in February 1817 Dover Builder: George Parsons, Bursledon Ordered: 8 July 1782 Laid down: August 1783 Launched: May 1786 Completed: 1787 at Portsmouth Dockyard Fate: Burnt by accident 20 August 1806
References
David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List, Brasseys Publications, London 1993. Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley 2007. .