Ramillies-class ship of the line

	Loss of HMS Ramillies by Robert Dodd
Class overview
Name	Ramillies
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Template:Sclass-
Succeeded by	Template:Sclass-
In service	4 September 1762 – 1817
Completed	9
Lost	5
General characteristics
Type	Ship of the line
Length	168 ft 6 in (51.4 m) (gundeck); 138 ft 3⅜ in (42.1 m) (keel) (first group); 138 ft 1 in (42.1 m) (keel) (second group);
Beam	46 ft 9 in (14.2 m) (first group); 46 ft 11 in (14.3 m) (second group);
Propulsion	Sails
Complement	550 officers and men
Armament	74 guns:; Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs; Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs; Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs; Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs;
Notes	Ships in class include: Ramillies, Monarch, Magnificent, Marlborough, Terrible, Russell, Invincible, Robust, Prince of Wales

The Ramillies-class ships of the line were a class of nine 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.

Design

The draught for the Ramillies-class was very similar to that of the Bellona-class and subsequent Arrogant-class, with the only real differences to be found in the shape of the underwater hull. There were two distinct sub-groups; four ships were built in the Royal Dockyards to the original design, approved on 25 April 1760 – although the name-ship Ramillies had originally been ordered as a Bellona-class unit. Slade subsequently amended his design for the ships which were to be built by commercial contractors – this modified design, with slightly amended dimensions, being approved on 13 January 1761.

Ships

First group

Dockyard-built ships:

HMS Ramillies

Builder: Chatham Dockyard

Ordered: 1 December 1759

Laid down: 25 August 1760

Launched: 25 April 1763

Completed: November 1763

Fate: Abandoned and burned off Newfoundland, 21 September 1782.

HMS Monarch

Builder: Deptford Dockyard

Ordered: 22 November 1760

Laid down: 2 June 1761

Launched: 20 July 1765

Completed: 24 September 1765

Fate: Broken up at Chatham, March 1813

HMS Magnificent

Builder: Deptford Dockyard

Ordered: 16 December 1761

Laid down: 15 April 1762

Launched: 20 September 1767

Completed: September 1778

Fate: Wrecked off Brest, 25 March 1804.

HMS Marlborough

Builder: Deptford Dockyard

Ordered: 4 December 1762

Laid down: 3 June 1763

Launched: 26 August 1767

Completed: 1 December 1767

Fate: Wrecked off Belle Île, 4 November 1800

Second (modified) group

Contract-built ships:

HMS Terrible

Builder: John Barnard, Harwich

Ordered: 1 January 1761

Laid down: February 1761

Launched: 4 September 1762

Completed: 18 December 1762

Fate: Burned following the Battle of Chesapeake, 11 September 1781

HMS Russell

Builder: Thomas West, Deptford

Ordered: 1 January 1761

Laid down: June 1761

Launched: 10 November 1764

Completed: 6 January 1765 at Woolwich Dockyard

Fate: Sold out of the service in the East Indies, 1811

HMS Invincible

Builder: John and William Wells, Deptford

Ordered: 12 October 1761

Laid down: December 1761

Launched: 9 March 1765

Completed: February 1777 at Chatham Dockyard.

Fate: Wrecked off Yarmouth, 16 March 1801

HMS Robust

Builder: John Barnard, Harwich

Ordered: 16 December 1761

Laid down: February 1762

Launched: 25 October 1764

Completed: 10 December 1764

Fate: Broken up at Portsmouth, January 1817

HMS Prince of Wales

Builder: Henry Bird and Roger Fisher, Milford Haven

Ordered: 16 December 1762

Laid down: March 1762

Launched: 4 June 1765

Completed: 22 December 1770 at Plymouth Dockyard

Fate: Broken up at Plymouth, August 1783

References

Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.