Porcupine-class post ship

The Porcupine-class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten 24-gun post ships built to a 1776 design by John Williams, that served in the Royal Navy during the American War Of Independence. Some survived to serve again in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars. The first two were launched in 1777. Three were launched in 1778, three more in 1779, and the last two in 1781.

Class overview
Name: Porcupine-class post ships
Operators:  Royal Navy
Completed: 10
General characteristics
Type: Sixth-rate post ship
Tons burthen: 513 ​55⁄94 (bm; as designed)
Length:
  • 114 ft 3 in (34.8 m) (gundeck)
  • 94 ft 3 1⁄2 in (28.7 m) (keel)
Beam: 32 ft (9.8 m)
Depth of hold: 10 ft 3 in (3.1 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 160
Armament:
  • Upperdeck: 22 × 9-pounder guns
  • QD 2 × 6-pounder guns

Design

John Williams, the Surveyor of the Navy, designed the class as a development of his 1773 design for the 20-gun Sphinx class. The 1776 design enlarged the ship, which permitted the mounting of an eleventh pair of 9-pounder guns on the upper deck and two smaller (6-pounder) guns on the quarterdeck.

Ships in class

The Admiralty ordered ten ships to this design over a period of two years. The contract for the first ship was agreed on 25 June 1776 with Greaves, for launching in July 1777; the second was agreed with Adams on 6 August 1776, for launching in May 1777. The contract price for each was £10½ per ton BM; they were named Porcupine and Pelican by Admiralty Order on 27 August 1776. The contract price for Penelope was £11½ per ton BM.

NameOrderedBuilderBegunLaunchedCompletedFate
Porcupine21 June
1776		Edward Greaves,
Limehouse		July 177617 December
1777		14 February 1778
at Deptford Dockyard		Broken up at Woolwich
in April 1805.
Pelican24 July
1776		Adams & Barnard,
Deptford		August 177624 April
1777		12 June 1777
at Deptford Dockyard		Wrecked off Jamaica
in August 1781.
Eurydice24 July
1776		Portsmouth
Dockyard		February 177726 March
1781		3 June 1781Broken up at Deptford
in March 1834.
Hyaena9 October
1776		John Fisher,
Liverpool		May 17772 March
1778		January 1779
at Portsmouth Dockyard		Sold at Deptford
in February 1802.
Penelope13 November
1776		Peter Baker,
Liverpool		28 June 177725 June
1778		20 December 1778
at Plymouth Dockyard		Foundered in hurricane
in October 1780.
Amphitrite8 January
1776		Deptford Dockyard2 July 177728 May
1778		22 July 1778Wrecked off Livorno
in January 1794.
Crocodile8 January
1777		Portsmouth
Dockyard		February 177725 April
1781		12 June 1781Wrecked off Prawle Point
in Mat 1784.
Siren30 September
1777		James Baker,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne		21 January 177829 July
1779		4 March 1780
at Sheerness Dockyard		Wrecked off Seaford
in January 1781.
Pandora11 February
1778		Adams & Barnard,
Deptford		2 March 177817 May
1779		3 July 1779
at Deptford Dockyard		Wrecked in Torres Strait
in August 1791.
Champion11 February
1778		John Barnard,
Harwich		April 177817 May
1779		14 August 1779
at Sheerness Dockyard		Sold at Sheerness
in August 1816.
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References
  • Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley (2007). ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
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