1689 Programme Group

Class overview
Name	1689 Programme Group
Builders	Woolwich Dockyard; Deptford Dockyard; Chatham Dockyard; Sheerness Dockyard; Portsmouth Dockyard;
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Mermaid (1651)
Succeeded by	1693 Programme Group
Built	1689–1691
In service	1690–1741
Completed	5
Lost	3
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	32-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen	356+70⁄94 bm
Length	105 ft (32 m) gundeck; 92 ft (28 m) keel for tonnage;
Beam	27 ft (8.2 m) for tonnage
Depth of hold	10 ft (3 m)
Sail plan	ship-rigged
Armament	as built; 4 × 4 demi-culverines on wooden trucks (LD); 20 × sakers on wooden trucks (UD); 4 × 4 minions on wooden trucks (QD); 1703 Establishment; 4 × 4 9-pdr guns on wooden trucks (LD); 22/20 × 6-pdr guns on wooden trucks (UD); 6/4 × 4-pdr guns on wooden trucks (QD);

The 1689 Programme of fifth rates were devised by Admiral the Earl of Torrington (Arthur Herbert) as the prototype demi-batterie ships of the Royal Navy. The concept was to have one tier of ordnance flush on the upper deck for use in all weathers on a freeboard of at least seven feet. The ordnance would be arranged with a minimum of ten gun ports on the upper deck. The lower deck would be provided with four ports for heavier guns that could only be used in calm weather. For added propulsion ten oar ports per side would be provided with a central loading port. Five new 32-gun vessels to these specifications were ordered from Naval Dockyards in June 1689.^[1]

Design and specifications

The construction of the vessels was assigned to Royal dockyards. As with most vessels of this time period only order and launch dates are available. The dimensional data listed here is the specification data and the acceptable design creep will be listed on each individual vessel. The gundeck was 105 feet (32 metres) with a keel length of 92 ft (28 m) for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be 27 ft (8.2 m) with a depth of hold of 10 ft (3 m). The tonnage calculation would be 356+70⁄94 bm.^[2] The ships would be sail powered carrying a ship-rigged sail plan. Also there was a provision for ten oar ports per side located between the gun ports on the upper deck.^[3]

The gun armament initially was four demi-culverines^{[Note 1]} mounted on wooden trucks on the lower deck (LD) with two pair of guns per side. The upper deck (UD) battery would consist of between twenty and twenty-two sakers^{[Note 2]} guns mounted on wooden trucks with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery would be completed by four to six minions^{[Note 3]} guns mounted on wooden trucks on the quarterdeck (QD) with two to three guns per side. In the 1703 Establishment the old gun designations would be replaced by a system that designated the guns by the weight of shot fired. The demi-culverines would become known as 9-pounders, the sakers as 6-pounders and the minions as 4-pounders. Therefore, their armament as of 1703 would be listed as four 9-pounder guns on the lower deck (LD), twenty 6-pounder 19 hundredweight (cwt) guns on the upper deck (UD) with four 4-pounder 12 cwt guns on the quarterdeck (QD). The 4-pounders would be removed in 1714.^[4]

Ships of the 1689 Programme Group


Name	Builder	Launch date	Remarks
Experiment (1689)	Chatham Dockyard	17 December 1689	Reduced to sixth rate 1717 rebuilt as 1719 Establishment sixth rate in 1724
Pembroke (1690)	Deptford Dockyard	3 March 1690	taken by French on 23 February 1694 and ran ashore
Milford (1690)	Woolwich Dockyard	18 March 1690	taken by French 1 December 1693
Portsmouth (1690)	Portsmouth Dockyard	13 May 1690	Taken by French 11 October 1696
Sheerness (1691)	Sheerness Dockyard	6 March 1691	Reduced to sixth rate 1717 broken at Deptford 7 March 1730

Notes

^ A demi-culverine was a gun of 3,400 pounds with a four-inch bore firing a 9.5-pound shot with an eight-pound powder charge.
^ A sacar or saker was a gun of 1,400 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 5.5-pound shot with a 5.5-pound powder charge.
^ A minion was a gun of 1,000 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 4-pound shot with a 4-pound powder charge.

Citations

^ Winfred 2009
^ Winfield 2009
^ Winfield 2009
^ Winfield 2009

References

Winfield 2009, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB ISBN 978-1-78346-924-6, Chapter 5, The Fifth Rates, Vessels acquired from 16 December 1688, Fifth Rates of 32 and 36 guns, 1689 Programme
Winfield 2007, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1714 – 1792), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2007, EPUB ISBN 978-1-78346-925-3, Chapter 6, Sixth Rates, Sixth Rates of 20 or 24 guns, Vessels acquired from 1 August 1714, 1719 Establishment Group
Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, EPUB ISBN 978-1-5267-9328-7

[4] A demi-culverine was a gun of 3,400 pounds with a four-inch bore firing a 9.5-pound shot with an eight-pound powder charge.

[5] A sacar or saker was a gun of 1,400 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 5.5-pound shot with a 5.5-pound powder charge.

[6] A minion was a gun of 1,000 pounds with a 3.5-inch bore firing a 4-pound shot with a 4-pound powder charge.

[1] Winfred 2009

[2] Winfield 2009

[3] Winfield 2009

[7] Winfield 2009

[1]

[2]

[3]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

[4]

v t e 1689 Programme Group
Experiment Pembroke Milford Portsmouth Sheerness
Preceded by: HMS Mermaid Followed by: 1693 Programme Group
List of frigate classes of the Royal Navy