1689 Programme Group

March 2022 March 2022 1689 Programme Group Woolwich Dockyard Deptford Dockyard Chatham Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard Portsmouth Dockyard United Kingdom English ship Mermaid 1651 3 1693 Programme Group 1689–1691 1690–1741 5 3 2 32-gun fifth rate 356 70 94 bm *105 ft m on 0 gundeck *92 ft m on 0 keel for tonnage *27 ft m on 1 for tonnage 10 ft m on 0 ship-rigged 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.Winfred 2009 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 ft m off 0 with a keel length of 92 ft m on 0 for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be 27 ft m on 1 with a depth of hold of 10 ft m on 0. The tonnage calculation would be 356 70 94 bm.Winfield 2009 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.Winfield 2009 The gun armament initially was four demi-culverinesA 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. 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 sakersA 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. guns mounted on wooden trucks with ten or eleven guns per side. The gun battery would be completed by four to six minionsA 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. 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.Winfield 2009 Ships of the 1689 Programme Group + Name Builder Launch date Remarks Experiment 1689 3 Chatham Dockyard 17 December 1689 Reduced to sixth rate 1717 rebuilt as 1719 Establishment sixth rate in 1724 Pembroke 1690 3 Deptford Dockyard 3 March 1690 taken by French on 23 February 1694 and ran ashore Milford 1690 3 Woolwich Dockyard 18 March 1690 taken by French 1 December 1693 Portsmouth 1690 3 Portsmouth Dockyard 13 May 1690 Taken by French 11 October 1696 Sheerness 1691 3 Sheerness Dockyard 6 March 1691 Reduced to sixth rate 1717 broken at Deptford 7 March 1730 Notes Note Citations References Winfield 2009, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB 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 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 978-1-5267-9328-7 Category:Frigates of the Royal Navy Category:Ships of the Royal Navy