A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two columns of opposing warships maneuvering to volley fire with the cannons along their broadsides. In conflicts where opposing ships were both able to fire from their broadsides, the opponent with more cannons firing – and therefore more firepower – typically had an advantage. Since these engagements were almost invariably won by the heaviest ships carrying more of the most powerful guns, the natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time.
The sixth HMS Vanguard, of the British Royal Navy was a 78-gun second-rate ship of the line, launched on 25 August 1835 at Pembroke Yard. She was the first of a new type of sailing battleship: a Symondite.
HMS Queen was a 110-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 May 1839 at Portsmouth. She was the last purely sailing built battleship to be ordered. Subsequent ones were ordered with sails and steam engines as well. All British battleships were constructed with sailing rig until the 1870s. HMS Queen had an auxiliary steam engine fitted in late 1850s. She was broken up in 1871.
HMS Colossus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched from Deptford Dockyard on 23 April 1803. She was designed by Sir John Henslow as one of the large class 74s, and was the name ship of her class, the other being Warspite. As a large 74, she carried 24 pdrs on her upper gun deck, as opposed to the 18 pdrs found on the middling and common class 74s. She took part in the Battle of Trafalgar, and was broken up in 1826.
HMS Prince of Wales was one of six 121-gun screw-propelled first-rate three-decker line-of-battle ships of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 25 January 1860.
HMS Agamemnon was a Royal Navy 91-gun battleship ordered by the Admiralty in 1849, in response to the perceived threat from France by their possession of ships of the Napoléon class.
The Bulwark class were the final class of wooden line-of-battle ships laid down for the Royal Navy. They were laid down after HMS Warrior. In March 1861 their construction was suspended, and seven were later converted to iron-clads. HMS Bulwark and HMS Robust were kept on the stocks almost complete, in case of need, until they were scrapped in 1873 and 1872.
The Duncan class of 101-gun two-decker steam line-of-battle ships are considered by Professor Andrew Lambert to have been the "final statement of the British design progress" for steam two-deckers. The class consisted of HMS Duncan and HMS Gibraltar. The Bulwark class had identical hulls. HMS Gibraltar was the last wooden steam line-of-battleship to commission as a private ship in the Royal Navy.
The Caledonia-class ships of the line were a class of nine 120-gun first rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir William Rule. A tenth ship was ordered on 29 October 1827 to the same design, but was launched in 1833 as Queen to a fresh design by Sir William Symonds.
HMS Prince Regent was a 120-gun first rate three-decker ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 April 1823 at Chatham.
HMS Royal William was a 120-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 2 April 1833 at Pembroke Dock.
HMS St George was a 120-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 August 1840 at Plymouth.
HMS Warspite was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1807. She served in the Napoleonic Wars and was decommissioned in 1815. After conversion to a 76-gun ship in 1817 she circumnavigated the world, visiting Australia. She was cut down to a single decker 50-gun frigate in 1840 and was decommissioned in 1846. She was lent as a boys' training ship to The Marine Society and was lost to fire in 1876.
HMS Warspite was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1666 at Blackwall Yard. This second Warspite was one of the five ships designed to carry more provisions and lower deck guns higher above the water than French and Dutch equivalents. In 1665 the Second Anglo-Dutch War had begun and on 25 July 1666 Warspite was one of 23 new English warships helping to beat a Dutch fleet off North Foreland, Kent. She won again distinction on Christmas Day 1666 as senior officer's ship out of five sent to protect an important convoy of naval stores from the Baltic. Warspite next took part in the first action of the Third Anglo-Dutch War on 28 May 1672 off Southwold Bay, Suffolk. This desperate 14-hour battle, generally known as Solebay, was a drawn fight; but Warspite successfully fended off a pair of Dutch fire ships exactly as she had done off North Foreland. By 1685, she was mounting only 68 guns.
The Vanguard-class ships of the line were a class of two-deck 80-gun second rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir William Symonds, of which nine were completed as sailing ships of the line, although another two of these were completed as steam warships.
HMS Marlborough was a first-rate three-decker 131 gun screw ship built for the Royal Navy in 1855. She was begun as a sailing ship of the line, but was completed to a modified design and converted to steam on the stocks, and launched as a wooden steam battleship.
HMS Exmouth was a 91-gun screw propelled Albion-class second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.
HMS St Jean d'Acre was the Royal Navy's first 101 gun screw two-decker line-of-battle ship. She served in the Crimean War.
The Agamemnon-class steam battleships, or steam ships of the line, were a class of five 91-gun steam second rates of the Royal Navy. The original design was produced by John Edye in 1847, as a response to the French Le Napoléon, which was rumoured to be under development.
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