1719 Establishment Group

The 1719 Establishment Group of sixth rates defined the 20-gun sixth rate using the Dursley Galley as a model. This design works and sailed well. Seventeen ships would be rebuilds of earlier vessels, some would be fifth rates, a couple of fireships and three vessels of new construction with the majority rebuilt from older sixth rate vessels. These ships would be constructed between 1722 and 1727.

Class overview
Name	1719 Establishment Group
Builders	Woolwich Dockyard Portsmouth Dockyard Deptford Dockyard Chatham Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard Plymouth Dockyard
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Gibraltar Group
Succeeded by	Modified 1719 Establishment Group
Built	1722–1727
In service	1727–1749
Completed	20
Lost	1
Retired	19
General characteristics
Type	20-gun sixth rate
Tons burthen	374+49⁄94 bm
Length	106 ft 0 in (32.3 m) gundeck 87 ft 9 in (26.7 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	28 ft 4 in (8.6 m) for tonnage
Depth of hold	9 ft 2 in (2.8 m)
Sail plan	ship-rigged
Armament	20 × 6-pdr 19 cwt guns on wooden trucks (UD)

Design and specifications

The construction of the vessels was assigned to Royal dockyards. As with most vessels of this time period only order and launch dates are available. The dimensional data listed here is the specification data and the acceptable design creep will be listed on each individual vessel. The gundeck was 106 feet 0 inches (32.3 metres) with a keel length of 87 feet 9 inches (26.7 metres) for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be 28 feet 4 inches (8.6 metres) with a depth of hold of 9 ft 2 in (2.8 m). The tonnage calculation would be 375 tons.

The gun armament as established in 1703 would be twenty 6-pounder 19 hundredweight (cwt) guns mounted on wooden trucks on the upper deck (UD).

Ships of the 1719 Establishment Group

Name	Rebuilder	Launch date	Remarks
Lyme	Deptford Dockyard	8 November 1720	Rebuilt from 5th rate 1720 Breaking completed January 1739
Lowestoffe	Portsmouth Dockyard	18 December 1723	Rebuilt from 5th rate 1720 Sold at Sheerness 29 September 1744
Scarborough renamed Garland	Deptford Dockyard	18 October 1711	Rebuilt from 5th rate 1720 Sold at Sheerness 29 September 1744
Scarborough	Deptford Dockyard	19 July 1722	Rebuilt from 5th rate 1720 Sold at Deptford 5 June 1744
Experiment	Plymouth Dockyard	1 November 1727	Rebuilt from 5th rate 1727 Breaking complete at Portsmouth in July 1738
Shoreham	Woolwich Dockyard	25 August 1720	Rebuilt from 5th rate 1720 Sold at Deptford 5 June 1744
Gibraltar	Deptford Dockyard	8 August 1727	Sold 16 March 1749
Seahorse	Deptford Dockyard	7 October 1727	Sold 27 July 1748
Seaford	Deptford Dockyard	22 October 1724	broken at Woolwich April to June 1740
Rose	Woolwich Dockyard	8 September 1724	Sold at Deptford 5 June 1744
Deal Castle	Sheerness Dockyard	6 April 1727	Sold at Deptford 14 August 1746
Nightingale Renamed Fox	Deptford Dockyard	18 November 1727	Breaking completed at Deptford in January 1738
Bideford	Chatham Dockyard	2 October 1727	Foundered off Flamborough Head 18 March 1736
Flamborough	Portsmouth Dockyard	21 October 1727	Sold at Woolwich 10 January 1749
Aldborough	Portsmouth Dockyard	21 October 1727	Broken at Deptford 31 March 1742
Squirrel	Woolwich Dockyard	19 October 1727	Sold at Woolwich 17 October 1749
Phoenix	Woolwich Dockyard	16 January 1728	Sold at Woolwich 28 June 1744
Blandford	Deptford Dockyard	13 February 1720	New Construction sold 28 October 1742
Greyhound	Deptford Dockyard	13 February 1720	New Construction Breaking completed June 1741 for rebuilding
Rye	Chatham Dockyard	6 October 1727	New Construction Broken at Sheerness December 1735

References

• Winfield 2009, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB ISBN 978-1-78346-924-6, Chapter 6, The Sixth Rates, Vessels acquired from 2 May 1660, Gibraltar Group
• Winfield 2007, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1714 – 1792), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2007, EPUB ISBN 978-1-78346-925-3, Chapter 6, Sixth Rates, Sixth Rates of 20 or 24 guns, Vessels in Service at 1 August 1714, Gibraltar 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, EPUB ISBN 978-1-5267-9328-7