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{{Short description|Frigate class of the Royal Navy}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
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| Operators={{navy|United Kingdom}}
| Class before={{sclass|Minerva|frigate|4}}
| Class after={{sclass|Pallas|frigate|4||1791}}
| Cost=
| Built range = 1780–1783, 1801–1811
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|Ship complement= 260, later 270
|Ship armament=
*
* [[Quarterdeck|QD]]: 8 × 9-pounder guns + 4 × 18-pounder [[carronade]]s
* [[Forecastle|Fc]]: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 4 × 18-pounder carronades + 14 ×
|Ship notes=
}}
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|Ship complement= 260, later 264
|Ship armament=
*
* QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder carronades
* Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades
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The design Hunt came up with was the ''Perseverance''-class frigate.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=972}} This was a slightly shortened equivalent of the ''Minerva'' class.{{sfnp|Winfield|2014|p=126}} The class was very similar in design to the ''Flora'' class despite the intentions for the two to be evaluated against each other, however the ''Perseverance'' design was sharper than ''Flora''.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=972}}{{sfnp|Wareham|1999|p=19}} One of the most noticeable differences between the two classes was that the ''Perseverance'' class had slightly longer rails on their [[quarterdeck]]s.{{sfnp|Gardiner|1992|p=17}} Both thirty-six gun ship classes were built quite heavily and were known to be very robust in their construction, most likely because the designers had erred on the side of caution when drawing up the new ships.{{sfnp|Gardiner|1992|p=20}}
As well as this the ships would go on to be thought of very favourably in combat, because even when victualled for long journeys they provided a large amount of [[freeboard]] with which to keep guns in use. As well as this, the guns themselves were seven feet apart from each other, providing more operating space than was common.{{refn|Despite this the class, along with the other variants designed in the 1780s, were still thought to be too small for their armaments.{{sfnp|Gardiner|1999|p=45}}|group=Note}} These favourable gunnery characteristics came at a cost to the class's speed, however, but they made up for this by retaining a high level of manoeuvrability and were very [[Glossary of nautical terms (M–Z)#weatherly|weatherly]].{{sfnp|Gardiner|1992|p=20}}
====Construction and armament====
The first ship of the class, [[HMS Perseverance (1781)|''Perseverance'']], was ordered on 3 December 1779.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=972}} In response to positive trials of all three designs by Hunt and Williams, more vessels were ordered later in the Revolutionary War to a variety of civilian dockyards. Three further vessels would be built of the ''Perseverance'' class, but in this early stage of war the speed of civilian construction was still slow, with the average length of construction being eighteen months. This meant that only ''Perseverance'' herself was launched in time to see any service in the war the class was built for.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=955}}{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=972}}{{sfnp|Gardiner|1992|p=19}} To avoid the creation of jealous tensions between Hunt and Williams, as was often the case when the surveyors designed similar ships, the later ships of the ''Perseverance'' and ''Flora'' classes were ordered in a pattern alternating between the two classes.{{refn|While this was successful and the pattern of construction suggests no favouritism, later opinions would favour the ''Perseverance'' class.{{sfnp|Gardiner|1992|p=20}}|group=Note}}{{sfnp|Gardiner|1992|p=16}} These early classes of 18-pounder frigates were not extensively built after the war because by 1790 the [[Pallas-class frigate (1791)|''Pallas''-class frigate]] had been adopted as the standard design, but because the majority of the class missed the Revolutionary War they were saved from the strenuous services many ships underwent during that conflict, and thus had longer service lives than might have been expected.{{sfnp|Wareham|1999|p=20}}{{sfnp|Gardiner|1992|p=20}}
All ships of the class were constructed to the following dimensions: {{convert|137|ft|m|1}} along the [[gun deck]], {{convert|113|ft|5+1/2|in|m|1}} at the [[keel#structural keels|keel]], with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|38|ft|m|1}} and a depth in the [[Hold (compartment)|hold]] of {{convert|13|ft|5|in|m|1}}. They measured 871 {{small|{{Fraction|42|94}}}} [[tons burthen]] and were to have a crew of 260 men.{{refn|While the majority of measurements were adhered to in the construction of the individual ships of the class, no ship succeeded in being 871 {{small|{{Fraction|42|94}}}} tons burthen, with the ships in order of construction weighing 882, 884, 890, and 881 tons burthen respectively.{{sfnp|Gardiner|1992|p=19}}|group=Note}} Initially the armament of the class was set at twenty-six 18-pounders on the gundeck, four 6-pounders on the quarterdeck, and two 6-pounders on the [[forecastle]]. On 30 September 1779 four 18-pound [[carronade]]s were added to the quarterdeck and another four were added to the forecastle in response to the new carronade establishment ordered by the Admiralty.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=972}}{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=955}} Also on the forecastle, fourteen {{frac|1|2}}-pounder [[swivel gun]]s were added.{{refn|Gardiner records the number of swivel guns added as twelve.{{sfnp|Gardiner|1992|p=19}}|group=Note}}{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=972}}
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====''Phoenix''====
[[File:
[[HMS Phoenix (1783)|''Phoenix'']] was commissioned by Captain [[John Willett Payne]] in October 1787, but paid off in the following December without having gone to sea. She was then fitted out for sea service, which work was completed on 11 December 1788. While this was being completed ''Phoenix'' had been recommissioned by Captain George A. Byron in October.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=974}} Under him she sailed to the East Indies Station, and on 18 November 1791 she fought and captured the French 32-gun frigate [[French frigate Résolue (1778)|''Résolue'']] in the battle of Tellicherry, despite the two nations not being at war.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=974}}{{sfnp|James|1837a|pp=118–119}} ''Phoenix'' returned home to England in August 1793 and was put in for a large series of repairs at [[Deptford Dockyard]]. These took place between August 1794 and January 1796, with her having been recommissioned under Captain [[Lawrence Halstead]] in the previous October. She then sailed to serve in the [[North Sea Fleet]], where she captured the [[Batavian Republic|Batavian]] 36-gun frigate [[Dutch frigate Argo|''Argo'']] in the [[action of 12 May 1796]].{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=974}}{{sfnp|James|1837a|p=327}}{{sfnp|Clowes|1899|p=498}}
In March 1797 ''Phoenix'' was transferred to the Channel Fleet; she captured the French 4-gun privateer ''L'Espiegle'' off [[Waterford]] on 18 May, 1-gun ''Le Brave'' off [[Cape Clear Island]] on 24 April 1798, 20-gun ''La Caroline'' on 31 May, and 20-gun ''Foudroyant'' on 23 January 1799. ''Phoenix'' then sailed to join the [[Mediterranean Fleet]] on 6 May, where she continued her successes. Alongside the [[fireship]] [[HMS Incendiary (1782)|HMS ''Incendiary'']] she captured the French 10-gun privateer ''L'Eole'' off [[Cape Spartel]] on 11 February 1800.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=974}} ''Phoenix'' then took the French 12-gun [[brig]] ''L'Albanaise'' on 3 June while in company with the [[brig-sloop]] [[HMS Port Mahon (1798)|HMS ''Port Mahon'']].{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=974}}{{sfnp|Clowes|1899|p=531}} Fourteen days later she captured the French 4-gun ship ''Revanche'', but the [[prize (law)|prize]] capsized the following day.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|p=974}}
On 2 September 1801 ''Phoenix'', with the frigates [[French frigate Pomone (
Captain William Webley took over from Bowen in 1813, and he in turn handed over to Captain [[Charles Austen]] in September 1814.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|pp=974–975}} Austen sailed ''Phoenix'' to the Mediterranean, where she was wrecked off [[İzmir]] in a hurricane on 20 February 1816.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|pp=974–975}}{{sfnp|James|1837d|p=508}} The wreck was burned on 2 March, with the remaining materials sold for $600.{{sfnp|Winfield|2007|pp=974–975}}
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====''Shannon''====
[[File:No.3 Shannon
[[HMS Shannon (1803)|''Shannon'']] was originally ordered under the name ''Pallas'', but was renamed in November 1802 and commissioned in July 1803 by Captain [[Edward Leveson-Gower]]. The frigate was sent to serve on the blockade of [[Le Havre]].{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=377}} While doing so she was driven onto rocks underneath the [[gun battery|gun batteries]] of [[La Hogue]] in a storm on 10 December, where she was captured by French soldiers with the loss of three crewmen. The wreck was burned by the sloop [[HMS Merlin (1803)|HMS ''Merlin'']] on 16 December.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=377}}{{sfnp|Grocott|2002|p=162}}{{sfnp|James|1837b|p=206}}
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{{Perseverance class frigate}}
[[Category:Perseverance-class frigates| ]]
[[Category:Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy]]
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