Fly-class brig-sloop

The Fly class were built for the Royal Navy as a class of 16-gun brig-sloops; an extra two carronades were added soon after completion. The class was designed by one of the Surveyors of the Navy - Sir John Henslow - and approved in 1805. The Admiralty ordered five vessels to this design in January 1805; it ordered two more in the summer, although this final pair were planked with hulls of pitch pine ("fir") rather than the normal oak used in the first five.

Class overview
Name:	Fly-class brig-sloop
Operators:	Royal Navy
In service:	1805 - 1816
Completed:	7
General characteristics
Type:	Brig-sloop
Tons burthen:	281 ​^85⁄94 (bm)
Length:	96 ft 0 in (29.3 m) (gundeck) 79 ft 5 in (24.2 m) (keel)
Beam:	25 ft 1 in (7.6 m)
Depth of hold:	11 ft 6 in (3.5 m)
Sail plan:	Brig-rigged
Complement:	94
Armament:	2 × 6-pounder chase guns 14 × 24-pounder carronades[Note 1]

Vessels

In the following table, the Fly class brig-sloops are listed in the order in which they were instructed to be built (i.e. order dates).

Name	Launched	Fate
Kite	13 July 1805	Sold for breaking 14 December 1815[1]
Sparrow	29 July 1805	Sold for breaking 17 October 1816[1]
Fly	24 October 1805	Wrecked off Anholt island on 28 February 1812
Raven	12 August 1805	Sold for breaking 18 September 1816[1]
Wizard	November 1805	Sold for breaking 17 October 1816[1]
Goshawk	17 July 1806	Wrecked off Barcelona 21 November 1811
Challenger	30 July 1806	Captured by French off Île de Batz 12 March 1811

Notes

1. A further two 24-pounder carronades were added later

References

1. Winfield (2004), p.73.

• British Warships in the Age of Sail, Rif Winfield, Seaforth Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6.