Maidstone Group

Class overview
Name| Maidstone Group
Builders|

* Chatham Dockyard
* Sheerness Dockyard
* Deptford Dockyard
* Portsmouth Dockyard
* 9 vessels by contract

Operators|  Royal Navy
Preceded by| None
Succeeded by| Nightingale Group
Built| 1693–1697
In service| 1694–1719
Completed| 18
Lost| 11
Retired| 7
General characteristics
Type| 20-gun sixth rate
Tons burthen| 244+57⁄94 bm
Length|

* 93 ft 0 in (28.3 m) gundeck
* 77 ft 8 in (23.7 m) keel for tonnage

Beam| 24 ft 4 in (7.4 m) for tonnage
Depth of hold| 10 ft 8 in (3.3 m)
Armament|

* initially as ordered
* 20 × sakers on wooden trucks (UD)
* 4 × 3-pdr on wooden trucks (QD)
* 1703 Establishment
* 20 × 6-pdrs on wooden trucks (UD)
* 4 × 4-pdr on wooden trucks (QD)

Before 1688 no sixth rate carried more than 20 guns. At the start of the Anglo-French War in 1688 the British captured four 20 plus gunned French vessels, that were rated by the French as sixth rates. The British Admiralty submitted a requirement to the Navy Board for a 'standard' sixth rate of 20 guns on the upper deck with four smaller guns on the quarterdeck. The vessel proposed by the Navy Board had an estimated cost of £1,676.10.0d[Note 1] per ship with another £2,513[Note 2] for materials for completion. Initially fourteen ships were ordered, Batch 1 of four vessels in July 1693, Batch 2 of eight vessels in spring 1694, Batch 3 of two vessels in March 1695 with a further four in 1696.[1] This first standardized group of sixth rates became known as the Maidstone Group.

## Design and specifications

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The initial order was for fourteen vessels spread over three building seasons with another four added in 1696. The construction of the vessels was evenly split between Dockyard-built vessels and contracted vessels. As with most vessels of this period only order and launch dates are available. Each ship was built to a generalized specification with dimensional creep accruing in all vessels. The dimensional data listed here is the general specification, whereas the actual dimensions where known will be listed with each ship. The general specification called for a gundeck of 93 feet 0 inches (28.3 metres) with a keel length of 77 feet 8 inches (23.7 metres) for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be 24 feet 4 inches (7.4 metres) for tonnage with a depth of hold of 10 feet 8 inches (3.3 metres). The tonnage calculation would be 244+57⁄94.[2]

The initial gun armament would be twenty sakers mounted on wooden trucks located on the upper deck (UD) with a further four 3-pounders[Note 3] mounted on wooden trucks on the quarterdeck (QD). A saker or sacar was a muzzle-loading smoothbore gun of 1,400 pounds in weight with a 3+1⁄2-inch bore firing a 5+1⁄2-pound shot with a 5+1⁄2-pound powder charge.[3] In 1703 the armament would be established at twenty 6-pounders mounted on wooden trucks on the upper deck with four 4-pounders on the quarterdeck.[4]

## Ships of the Maidstone Group

[edit]

Name | Builder | Launch date | Remarks

|
|
|

Maidstone | Chatham Dockyard | 31 December 1693 | Sold 29 July 1714
Jersey | Deptford Dockyard | 17 January 1694 |

* renamed Margate 21 October 1698
* Wrecked 9 October 1707

Lizard | Chatham Dockyard | 19 March 1694 | lost with all hands 31 May 1696
Newport | Portsmouth Dockyard | 7 April 1694 | taken by French 5 July 1696
Falcon | Nicholas Barret, Shoreham | 28 September 1694 | taken by French 10 June 1695, retaken in 1703 and broken
Queenborough | Sheerness Dockyard | 22 December 1694 | Sold 20 August 1719
Swan | Robert & John Castle, Deptford | 13 September 1694 | Lost in tropical storm 17 August 1707
Drake | George Fowler, Rotherhithe | 26 September 1694 | Lost with all hands 20 December 1694
Solebay | Edward Snelgrove, Redhouse | 13 September 1694 | Wrecked 25 December 1709
Seahorse | John Hayden, Limehouse | 27 September 1694 | Wrecked 14 March 1703
Bideford | Nicholas Barret, Harwich | 25 October 1695 | Wrecked 12 November 1699
Penzance | Thomas Ellis, Shoreham | 22 April 1695 | Sold 24 September 1713
Dunwich | William Collins & Robert Chatfield, Shoreham | 15 October 1695 | Sunk as breakwater at Plymouth 15 October 1714
Orford | Thomas Ellis, Shoreham | 29 November 1695 |

* renamed Newport 3 September 1698
* Sold 29 July 1714

Lizard (ii) | Sheerness Dockyard | 29 March 1697 | Sold 29 July 1714
Flamborough | Chatham Dockyard | 10 July 1697 | Taken by French 10 October 1705 and scuttled
Seaford | Portsmouth Dockyard | 15 October 1697 | Broken in August 1722
Deal Castle | Deptford Dockyard | 6 November 1697 | Taken by French 3 July 1706

## Notes

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1. ^ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £305,000 in today's money per ship.
2. ^ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £457,300 in today's money per ship.
3. ^ "3-pounder" refers to the weight of the ball fired

## Citations

[edit]

1. ^ Winfield
2. ^ Winfield
3. ^ Winfield, Source and data, Guns
4. ^ Winfield

## References

[edit]

* Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1603 – 1714), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2009, EPUB ISBN 9781783469246, Chapter 6, The Sixth Rates, Vessels acquired from 18 December 1688, Sixth Rates of 20 guns and up to 26 guns, Maidstone 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, e ISBN 978-1-5267-9328-7 (EPUB)

* v
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Maidstone Group

* Maidstone
* Jersey
* Lizard
* Newport
* Falcon
* Queenborough
* Swan
* Drake
* Solebay
* Seahorse
* Bideford
* Penzance
* Dunwich
* Orford
* Lizard
* Flamborough
* Seaford
* Deal Castle

* Preceded by: None
* Followed by: Nightingale  Group

* List of corvette and sloop classes of the Royal Navy

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