Sailing frigate classification

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The Sailing frigate classification system used during the 19th Century was a classification scheme used in several western countries. It was officially adopted by the United States Navy. The system classified sailing frigates according to their gun rating.

United States Navy Naval warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world, with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second largest and second most powerful air force in the world.

Contents

Ratings

TypeMaximum Gun RatingMinimum Gun RatingGun Decks
(Including main deck)
First Class50 [1] 42 [2] 2 [2]
Second Class36 [2] 28 [2] 1 or 2 [2]
Third Class24 [2] 20 [2] 1 [2]

Use

The United States Navy used this classification system officially, beginning at least by 1825. [3] The Royal Institution of Naval Architects, an international organization of naval architects, also adopted the system, beginning in 1860. [1]

Royal Institution of Naval Architects organization

The Royal Institution of Naval Architects is an international organisation representing naval architects. It is an elite international professional institution based in London. Its members are involved worldwide at all levels in the design, construction, repair and operation of ships, boats and marine structures. Members are elected by the council and are presented with the titles AssocRINA (Associate), AMRINA, MRINA (Member) and FRINA (Fellow) depending on their membership type. These title are usually suffixed after the name of the member.

The United States adopted a new rating system during the American Civil War, based on the thrown weight of broadsides. [4] By 1875, this system was replaced by a system of steam warship classification based on tonnage. [5]

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

The Steam warship classification system used during the 19th century was a classification scheme for the comparison of steam warships, including steam frigates and steam sloops. The system originally classified steam warships according to the thrown weight of their broadsides, then rated them by tonnage, using separate standards for ironclad and non-ironclad ships, with allowances for sailing ships still in commission. It was used in the United States and United Kingdom, officially and unofficially. The United States Navy adopted the system by 1875.

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References

  1. 1 2 The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (1860). Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, Volume I. The Royal Institution of Naval Architects.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nautical Research Guild (1980). Nautical research journal, Volumes 26-27. Nautical Research Guild.
  3. Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States, including Officers of the Marine Corps, and other, for the Year 1825.
  4. Boynton, Charles Brandon (1870). The History of the Navy During the Rebellion, Volume 1. D. Appleton and Company.
  5. Annual Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Steam-Engineering 1875. United States Government Printing Office. 1876.