In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at least 400 men, the size and establishment of first-rates evolved over the following 250 years to eventually denote ships of the line carrying at least 80 guns across three gundecks. By the end of the eighteenth century, a first-rate carried no fewer than 100 guns and more than 850 crew, and had a measurement (burthen) tonnage of some 2,000 tons.
Nine ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Albion after Albion, an archaic name for Great Britain:
HMS Britannia was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. The vessel was laid down in 1751 and launched in 1762. Nicknamed Old Ironsides, she served in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, including at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. One of the largest Royal Navy warships of her era, Britannia was one of only three British first-rates present at the battle, alongside HMS Victory and HMS Royal Sovereign. In 1806, the vessel was laid up and eventually converted into a hulk, before being broken up in 1825.
HMS Griper was a Bold-class gun-brig of the British Royal Navy, built in 1813 by Mark Williams and John Davidson at Hythe. She participated in the 1819 expedition to the Arctic led by William Parry, made a voyage to Greenland and Norway in 1823, and took part in Parry's third expedition in 1824 as a support ship. Her crew in 1819, 1823, or 1824, qualified for the "Arctic Medal", which the Admiralty issued in 1857. She was eventually broken up in 1868.
HMS Magnanime was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 October 1780 at Deptford Dockyard. She belonged to the Intrepid-class designed by Sir John Williams and later was razeed into a 44 gun frigate.
HMS Atlas was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 February 1782. She was a Duke-class ship of the line built at Chatham Dockyard by Nicholas Phillips.
HMS Boyne was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Nicholas Diddams at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on 3 July 1810 at Portsmouth. On 12 February 1814 she took part with HMS Caledonia in a hot action against the French line-of-battle ship Romulus off Toulon; the French 74 managed to escape to Toulon by sailing close to the coast to avoid being surrounded. With the 1817 changes to the rating system Boyne was rerated as a 104-gun first rate ship.
HMS Bulwark was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 April 1807 at Portsmouth. She was designed by Sir William Rule as one of the large class 74s, and was the only ship built to her draught. She was built at Portsmouth Dockyard by Nicholas Diddams.
HMS Bombay was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 March 1808 at Deptford.
HMS Marlborough was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 22 June 1807 at Deptford. In 1807, she helped escort the Portuguese royal family in its flight from Portugal to Brazil. In 1812 Marlborough became the flagship to Rear-Admiral Sir George Cockburn off Cadiz, from where she went to the North America Station and took part in the capture of Washington in August 1814.
The Vengeur-class ships of the line were a class of forty 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy as a joint effort between the two Surveyors of the Navy at the time. The Vengeur Class, sometimes referred to as the Surveyors' class of third rates, amongst other names, was the most numerous class of ships of the line ever built for the Royal Navy - forty ships being completed to this design. Due to some dubious practices, primarily in the commercial dockyards used for construction, this class of ships earned itself the nickname of 'Forty Thieves.'
HMS Rippon was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 8 August 1812 at Bursledon. She was broken up in 1821.
The Black Prince-class ships of the line were a class of four 74-gun third rates built for the Royal Navy in the closing years of the Napoleonic War. The draught for this class of ship was essentially a reduced version of the captured Danish ship Christian VII.
HMS Racoon, sometimes spelled HMS Raccoon, was an 18-gun ship sloop of the Cormorant class of the Royal Navy. She was built by John Preston, of Great Yarmouth, and launched on 30 March 1808. She sailed as far as Fort Astoria on the Columbia River. She became a hospital ship in 1819 and finally was sold in 1838.
HMS Childers was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop that Nicholas Diddams built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1812. She was broken up in 1822.
The French frigate Trave was a Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy, launched at Amsterdam in 1812. After the Royal Navy captured her in 1813 in the North Sea, it took her into service as the troopship HMS Trave. She served in the Potomac and her boats participated in the Battle of Lake Borgne during the War of 1812. She was sold on 7 June 1821.
The French frigate Weser, or Wezer was a Pallas-class 44-gun frigate of the French Navy launched in 1812 in Amsterdam. The British Royal Navy captured her on 21 October 1813. As HMS Weser she served in North American waters and then was sold for breaking up in September 1817.
The Thames-class frigate was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate class of eight ships of the Royal Navy based on the Richmond-class frigate designed by William Bately. The ships were ordered to the older design, which was of a smaller type of ship compared to more modern designs, so that they could be built quickly and cheaply in time to assist in defending against Napoleon's expected invasion of Britain. The class received several design changes to the Richmond class, being built of fir instead of oak, with these changes making the class generally slower and less weatherly than their predecessors, especially when in heavy weather conditions. The first two ships of the class, Pallas and Circe, were ordered on 16 March 1804 with two more ordered on 1 May and the final four on 12 July. The final ship of the class, Medea, was cancelled on 22 October before construction could begin but the other seven ships of the class were commissioned between 1804 and 1806.
Nicholas Diddams (c.1760–1823) was a Master Shipwright mainly building for the Royal Navy.
HMS Pallas was a 36-gun fifth-rate Apollo-class frigate of the Royal Navy. Placed in ordinary when completed in 1816, Pallas was commissioned for the first time in 1828. Under Captain Adolphus FitzClarence the frigate spent time blockading the Azores before making trips to India and then Nova Scotia, conveying important passengers. The ship sailed to the Mediterranean in 1830 under the command of Captain Manley Hall Dixon, and returned early the following year with the survivors of the wreck of the Countess of Harcourt. Later in the year Pallas joined the West Indies Station, where she served until 1834 when she was paid off. In 1836 the frigate was converted into a coal hulk, in which role she served at Plymouth Dockyard until being sold in 1862.
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