18th Century British Third Rate Lineships

Last crawled date: 1 year, 9 months ago

Two brand-new third rates. The HMS Atreus and the HMS Peleus, named after the fathers of Agamemnon and Achilles in Greek mythology. Third rates (between 60 and 80 guns) became the workhorse of the Royal Navy and were among the most common large ships built in the 18th century. I built the Atreus first as a heavy 80-gun ship, with thick outer planking, bay windows and detailed ornamentation on the stern. 80-gun ships were the extreme upper end of the third rate class, and any more guns would make it a small second-rate. Halfway through I realized that the gunports were too high in the bulkheads, and had to move all of them down about six inches, which complicated the hidden geometry of the hull. It looks fine but you'd have a tough time modifying it in any way. A common practice in the age of sail was the process of Razeeing (French word), or razing a lineship by cutting decks down to make it a sleeker, albeit big-boned fourth rate, fifth rate or even a heavy frigate. I would not recommend trying to razee the Atreus, it's pretty thick and solid as is. The Union Jack flies from its mainmast and the British Red Ensign (denoting it as part of the Red Squadron of the Caribbean) is at the stern. Armament: Lower gun deck: 20x32lb short cannon 6x32lb long-barreled cannon 3x32lb long- barreled pointing aft as stern chasers Upper gun deck: 10x28lb short-barrel cannon 16x24lb cannon 2x12lb cannon on the bow ports Foredeck: 6x12lb cannon 3x9lb 'long nines' pointing forward as bow chasers Quarterdeck/ upperworks: 14x12lb cannon The short-barreled guns are placed along the broadsides where accuracy is less important and at the very bow end where the gundeck tapers into a point and space is tight. The smaller Peleus is modeled after a classic 74-gun design, which became standard throughout the Royal Navy in the 18th and early 19th centuries as the most economic compromise between sail capability and firepower. I built this using knowledge gained from the Atreus, and it is a MUCH cleaner and simpler design that took a lot less time to make since I knew what I was doing. The profile of the hull is a continuous curve, and the front cross-section looks like a horseshoe, with the widest part at the waterline and the gundecks sloping up and inward. One thing I did not want to emulate about the Atreus design was its pinched look right at the waterline, where the curve of the lower hull stopped and the curve of its gundeck sides began. Peleus is a smaller and narrower ship, with thinner bulkheads and a less heavy stern. The bay windows on Atreus were a real pain to make so I gave Peleus a wraparound balcony. Thanks to its simplified design, I razeed it into a 50-gun fifth rate in about 15 minutes. Armament: Lower gun deck: 28x32lb short cannon 2x32lb long- barreled pointing aft as stern chasers Upper gun deck: 26x24lb cannon Foredeck: 6x12lb cannon 2x12lb pointing forward as bow chasers Quarterdeck/ upperworks: 10x12lb cannon These are a huge improvement over my earlier first-rate model. Frankly, it looks like a cave drawing by comparison. Once I figured out how to make a curved deck and better-looking trim along the bowsprit, my ships have turned into much more realistic and better-looking models. I'll probably try another first rate with these new techniques. That being said, the interiors of these ships are bare because I didn't want to bog down the model with details on the inside. Stand by for these same ships with French and Spanish flags and paint jobs, as well as my 50-gun razee. #age_of_sail #cannon #man_o_war #navy #pirate #Royal_Navy #sail #sailboat #sailing_ship #third_rate #warship