Seagull-class brig-sloop

The Seagull class were built as a class of thirteen 16-gun brig-sloops for the Royal Navy, although an extra 2 carronades were added soon after completion. The class was designed by one of the Surveyors of the Navy - Sir William Rule - and approved on 4 January 1805. Five vessels to this design were ordered in December 1804; eight more were ordered in the summer.

Drawing showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with midship framing and scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for the Seagull-class ships
Class overview
Name:	Seagull-class brig-sloop
Operators:	Royal Navy
In service:	1805 - 1819
Completed:	13
General characteristics
Type:	Brig-sloop
Tons burthen:	282 ​^36⁄94 bm
Length:	93 ft (28.3 m) (gundeck) 76 ft (23.2 m) (keel)
Beam:	26 ft 5 in (8.1 m)
Depth of hold:	12 ft (3.7 m)
Sail plan:	Brig-rigged
Complement:	95
Armament:	As built: 2 × 6-pounder guns as chase guns 14 × 24-pounder carronades Later: 2 × 6-pounder guns as bow chasers 16 × 24-pounder carronades

Armament

Unlike the larger Cruiser-class brig-sloops, whose main battery was composed of 32-pounder carronades, the Seagull class (and the similar Fly-class brig-sloops designed by Rule's co-surveyor - Sir John Henslow) were armed with a main battery of 24-pounder slide-mounted carronades.

Ships

Name	Launched	Fate
Seagull	1 July 1805	Captured 1808; decommissioned from Norwegian navy 1817
Oberon	13 August 1805	Broken up May 1816[1]
Imogen	11 July 1805	Sold for breaking on 3 April 1817[1]
Nightingale	29 July 1805	Sold for breaking 23 November 1815[1]
Savage	30 July 1805	Sold for breaking 6 March 1819[1]
Skylark	February 1806	Grounded 3 May 1812 west of Boulogne; burnt to avoid capture.
Paulina	7 December 1805	Sold for breaking 30 May 1816[1]
Delight	June 1806	Captured 31 January 1808 while stranded on the coast of Calabria.
Orestes	23 October 1805	Sold for breaking 6 March 1817[1]
Electra	21 January 1806	Wrecked 1808; salved but broken up later that year at Malta
Julia	4 February 1806	Wrecked at Tristan de Cunha 2 October 1817[1]
Satellite	March 1806	Foundered 19/20 December 1810
Sheldrake	21 March 1806	Sold for breaking 6 March 1816[1]

Citations and references

Citations

1. Winfield (2004), p.73.

References

• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.
• 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.