Arrogant-class ship of the line
 Scene in Plymouth Sound in August 1815, oil on canvas: HMS Bellerophon anchored in Plymouth Sound, with Napoleon Bonaparte aboard. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Arrogant |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Bellona class |
| Succeeded by | Canada class |
| In service | 22 January 1761 – 1868 |
| Completed | 12 |
| Lost | 2 (burnt or scuttled as unserviceable) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ship of the line |
| Tons burthen | 1,614 3⁄94 (bm) |
| Length | 168 ft (51.2 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam | 46 ft 9 in (14.2 m) |
| Depth of hold | 19 ft 9 in (6.0 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 550 or 600 |
| Armament |
|
The Arrogant-class ships of the line were a class of twelve 74-gun third-rate ships that served in the Royal Navy. The ships were built in two batches; the first pair during the 1760s and the others during the 1780s.
Design and description
The Arrogant-class ships were designed as a development of the co-Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Thomas Slade's previous Bellona class, sharing the same basic dimensions.[1] It was one of the "common" type of 74 with lighter guns than those of the "large" classes.[2] Two ships were ordered on 13 December 1758 to this design (at the same time as the fourth and fifth units of the Bellona class), and a further ten ships were built to a slightly modified version of the design from 1773 onwards.[3]
The design measured 168 feet (51.2 m) on the gundeck and 138 feet 10 inches (42.3 m) on the keel. It had a beam of 46 feet 9 inches (14.2 m), a depth of hold of 19 feet 9 inches (6.0 m) and had a tonnage of 1,614 3⁄94 tons burthen. The ships' crew numbered 550, for the first batch, or 600, for the second batch, officers and ratings. They were fitted with three masts and were ship-rigged.[3]
The ships were armed with 74 muzzle-loading, smoothbore guns that consisted of twenty-eight 32-pounder guns on their lower gundeck and twenty-eight 18-pounder guns on their upper deck. Their forecastle mounted four 9-pounder guns. On their quarterdeck they carried fourteen 9-pounder guns.[3]
Ships
| Ship name | Builder | Ordered | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMS Arrogant | John Barnard, Harwich | 13 December 1758 | March 1759 | 22 January 1761 | 28 April 1761 | Sold at Bombay to be broken up, 1810 |
| HMS Cornwall | William Wells, Deptford | 13 December 1758 | 19 February 1759 | 19 May 1761 | 16 September 1761 | Burnt or scuttled as unserviceable at St Lucia, 30 June 1780 |
| HMS Edgar | Woolwich Dockyard | 25 August 1774 | -Nul | 30 June 1779 | Broken up, 1835 | |
| HMS Goliath | Deptford Dockyard | 21 February 1778 | 19 October 1781 | Broken up, 1815 | ||
| HMS Zealous | Barnard, Deptford | 19 June 1782 | 25 June 1785 | Broken up, 1816 | ||
| HMS Audacious | Randall, Rotherhithe | 23 July 1785 | Broken up, 1815 | |||
| HMS Elephant | Parsons, Bursledon | 27 December 1781 | 24 August 1786 | Broken up, 1830 | ||
| HMS Bellerophon | Graves, Frindsbury | 11 January 1782 | 6 October 1786 | Sold out of the service, 1836 | ||
| HMS Saturn | Raymond, Northam | 22 December 1781 | 22 November 1786 | Broken up, 1868 | ||
| HMS Vanguard | Deptford Dockyard | 9 December 1779 | 6 March 1787 | Broken up, 1821 | ||
| HMS Excellent | Graham, Harwich | 9 August 1781 | 27 November 1787 | Broken up, 1835 | ||
| HMS Illustrious | Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard | 31 December 1781 | 7 July 1789 | Grounded in gale near Livorno (Leghorn) and burnt, 28 March 1795 | ||
Citations
References
- Lavery, Brian (1984). The Ship of the Line. Vol. 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.