Before 1688 no sixth rate carried more than 20 guns. At the start of the Anglo-French War in 1688 the British captured four 20 plus gunned French vessels, that were rated by the French as sixth rates. The British Admiralty submitted a requirement to the Navy Board for a 'standard' sixth rate of 20 guns on the upper deck with four smaller guns on the quarterdeck. The vessel proposed by the Navy Board had an estimated cost of £1,676.10.0dA total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £ in today's money per ship. per ship with another £2,513A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £ in today's money per ship. for materials for completion. Initially fourteen ships were ordered, Batch 1 of four vessels in July 1693, Batch 2 of eight vessels in spring 1694, Batch 3 of two vessels in March 1695 with a further four in 1696.Winfield This first standardized group of sixth rates became known as the Maidstone Group.
Design and specifications The initial order was for fourteen vessels spread over three building seasons with another four added in 1696. The construction of the vessels was evenly split between Dockyard-built vessels and contracted vessels. As with most vessels of this period only order and launch dates are available. Each ship was built to a generalized specification with dimensional creep accruing in all vessels. The dimensional data listed here is the general specification, whereas the actual dimensions where known will be listed with each ship. The general specification called for a gundeck of with a keel length of for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be for tonnage with a depth of hold of . The tonnage calculation would be .Winfield
The initial gun armament would be twenty sakers mounted on wooden trucks located on the upper deck (UD) with a further four 3-pounders"3-pounder" refers to the weight of the ball fired mounted on wooden trucks on the quarterdeck (QD). A saker or sacar was a muzzle-loading smoothbore gun of 1,400 pounds in weight with a -inch bore firing a -pound shot with a -pound powder charge.Winfield, Source and data, Guns In 1703 the armament would be established at twenty 6-pounders mounted on wooden trucks on the upper deck with four 4-pounders on the quarterdeck.Winfield
Ships of the Maidstone Group + Name Builder Launch date Remarks Chatham Dockyard 31 December 1693 Sold 29 July 1714 Deptford Dockyard 17 January 1694 renamed Margate 21 October 1698 Wrecked 9 October 1707 Chatham Dockyard 19 March 1694 lost with all hands 31 May 1696 Portsmouth Dockyard 7 April 1694 taken by French 5 July 1696 Nicholas Barret, Shoreham 28 September 1694 taken by French 10 June 1695, retaken in 1703 and broken Sheerness Dockyard 22 December 1694 Sold 20 August 1719 Robert & John Castle, Deptford 13 September 1694 Lost in tropical storm 17 August 1707 George Fowler, Rotherhithe 26 September 1694 Lost with all hands 20 December 1694 Edward Snelgrove, Redhouse 13 September 1694 Wrecked 25 December 1709 John Hayden, Limehouse 27 September 1694 Wrecked 14 March 1704 Nicholas Barret, Harwich 25 October 1695 Wrecked 12 November 1699 Thomas Ellis, Shoreham 22 April 1695 Sold 24 September 1713 William Collins & Robert Chatfield, Shoreham 15 October 1695 Sunk as breakwater at Plymouth 15 October 1714 Thomas Ellis, Shoreham 29 November 1695 renamed Newport 3 September 1698 Sold 29 July 1714 (ii) Sheerness Dockyard 29 March 1697 Sold 29 July 1714 Chatham Dockyard 10 July 1697 Taken by French 10 October 1705 and scuttled Portsmouth Dockyard 15 October 1697 Broken in August 1722 Deptford Dockyard 6 November 1697 Taken by French 3 July 1706
Notes
Citations
References Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB , Chapter 6, The Sixth Rates, Vessels acquired from 18 December 1688, Sixth Rates of 20 guns and up to 26 guns, Maidstone Group Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, e (EPUB)