HMS Adventure was a 34-gun fourth-rate of the English Navy, built by Peter Pett II at Woolwich Dockyard and launched in 1646. With the outbreak of the English Civil War she served on the Parliamentary side until 1649. She was incorporated into the Commonwealth Navy in 1650. She partook in the Battle off Dover in 1652, the Battle of Portland and the Battle of Gabbard in 1653. Adventure was employed on Bulstrode Whitelocke's embassy to Sweden, 1653–1654. After the Restoration she was incorporated into the Royal Navy. She was present at the Battle of Lowestoft (1665) and the Battle of Solebay (1672). She also participated in the Golden Horse and Two Lions actions in 1681. She was in the Battle of Barfleur in 1692. She captured several ships in the later part of her career, before being captured by the French in 1709.
HMS Fanfan was built by Anthony Deane during his tenure as the Master Shipwright at Harwich Dockyard under the 1665 Programme.. While the vessel was commissioned as a sixth rate, she was actually a yacht built for Prince Rupert and allegedly named after the pet-name of one of his lady friends. The vessel was more along the lines of a ketch than a sixth rate vessel. It saw action during the Battle of Oxfordness 1666. Then the Mediterranean before being sent to Ireland and Scotland. She was converted to a pitch boat in either 1692 or 1693.
HMS Francis was built by Anthony Deane during his tenure as the Master Shipwright at Harwich Dockyard under the 1665 Programme. She was commissioned in July 1666, she was Allin's squadron in the Mediterranean and participated in the blockade of Salé in October 1668, she was guardship at Sheerness between 1671 and 1674 and had service in the Channel. She was sent to the Leeward Islands in 1683 where she was lost in a hurricane in August 1684.
HMS Greyhound was built by Anthony Deane after his transfer to Portsmouth Dockyard as the Master Shipwright. She was a state-of-the-art small frigate which may have served as a forerunner for the standard 20-gun Sixth Rates of the 1690s. She was a standard 16-gun vessel. Her name was chosen to reflect her fine lines as a trade protection vessel. She was commissioned in July 1672 for fisheries protection, transported troops to Tangiers in 1681 and spent most of her career in the Irish Sea, including operations around Londonderry, she patrolled the North Sea and Channel with her final service with the Fleet. She was sold in 1698.
HMS Larke was contracted to be built by Sir Anthony Deane of Blackwall, knighted after he left Portsmouth Dockyard in 1673. She had the lines of Greyhound and was a standard 18-gun vessel. She was commissioned in June 1675 for trade protection, she patrolled the North Sea and Channel with her final service with the Fleet. She took a number of privateers during her service. She was sold on 3 May 1698.
HMS Saudadoes was built by Anthony Deane after his transfer to Portsmouth Dockyard as the Master Shipwright. She was a smaller version of the Greyhound design. Initially she was a 8/6-gun sixth rate vessel. She was rebuilt in 1673 as a standard 16-gun vessel. She was commissioned in November 1669 then taken in hand at Deptford for her rebuild. She spent the majority of her career in Home Waters, participating in the Battle of Bantry Bay and the Battle of Barfleur. She went to the Mediterranean for a year in 1694. Her final service was in the Channel where she was captured by two French privateers and burnt in February 1696.
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 £1,676.10.0d per ship with another £2,513 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. This first standardized group of sixth rates became known as the Maidstone Group.
HMS Seaford was a member of the standardized 20-gun sixth rates built at the end of the 17th century. After she was commissioned she had a very varied career, starting in the Mediterranean then the Irish Sea, then to Newfoundland, the North Sea followed by a great repair then to the Leeward Islands. She was dismantled in 1722 and rebuilt as a bomb vessel in 1727 than a 20-gun sixth rate in 1728. She served in the West Indies, America and the Mediterranean. She was finally broken in 1740.
HMS Deal Castle was a 24-gun sixth-rate ship of the Royal Navy, purchased in 1706 and in service in West Indies, North America and English waters until 1727 when she was rebuilt at Sheerness. She commissioned after her rebuild in May 1727 and served in Home waters, North America and the West Indies. She was finally broken at Deptford in August 1746.
HMS Experiment was a fifth rate built under the 1689 programme built at Deptford Dockyard. Her guns were listed under old terms for guns as demi-culverines, sakers and minions. After commissioning she spent her career in Home Waters, North America, Mediterranean and the West Indies. She was reduced to a 20-gun sixth rate in 1717 then rebuilt as a 1719 Establishment sixth rate in 1724. Her breaking was finally completed at Portsmouth in 1738.
HMS Speedwell was a fireship of the 1689 Programme built under contract. She would be rebuilt and rerated several times from a fireship to a 24-gun fifth rate then reduced to a 20-gun sixth rate and finally a bomb ketch. She was at the Battle of Barfleur in 1692 and had an attempted mutiny in 1699. After her first rebuild she was employed in the Irish Sea capturing four privateers and recapturing a sloop. She was wrecked on the Dutch coast in 1720.
HMS Betty was purchased on 24 April 1695. She was previously a privateer at Bristol in British service. After commissioning she went to the West Indies on trade protection duties. She was captured by the French while returning in 1695, but was retaken in 1696 by the British. She was again commissioned in British service and served in the Mediterranean, Guinea and did surveying work off Ireland. She was sold in 1702.
HMS Hastings was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by Thomas Ellis of Shoreham in 1694/95. She spent her brief career on counter piracy patrols and trade protection duties in Home Waters. She was wrecked in a storm off Waterford in December 1697.
HMS Looe was a 32-gun fifth rate built at Plymouth Dockyard in 1695/96. Shortly after commissioning she was wrecked in Baltimore Bay, Ireland on 30 April 1697.
HMS Lynn was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by Thomas Ellis of Shoreham in 1695/96. She spent her entire career on trade protection and anti-piracy patrols. Her service was in Home Waters North America, the West Indies and the East Indies. She was sold in 1713.
HMS Fowey was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Mr. Flint of Plymouth in 1695/96. She was employed in trade protection and counter-piracy patrols in Home Waters and North America. She was in on the capture of a 50-gun Frenchman while returning from Virginia. She was taken by the French off the Scilly Islands in August 1704.
HMS Southsea Castle was a 32-gun fifth rate built under contract by John Knowler of Redbridge (Southampton) in 1695/96.
HMS Gosport was a 32-gun fifth rate built by William Collins of Shoreham in 1695/96. She spent her career on counter piracy patrols and trade protection duties in Home Waters, in North America and the West Indies. She was captured by the French in 1706.
HMS Poole was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Joseph Nye & George Moore of East Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1695/96. She spent the first part of her career on trade protection and counter piracy patrols. After 1719 she was converted to a fireship. She was finally sunk as a breakwater at Harwich in July 1737.
HMS Looe was a 32-gun fifth rate built by Portsmouth Dockyard in 1696/97. She was first employed off the Irish coast. She went to Newfoundland in 1702. On her return she was wrecked on the Isle of Wight in December 1705.
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