Baltimore class sloop
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy |
| Preceded by: | Wolf class |
| Succeeded by: | Merlin class |
| Built: | 1742-1743 |
| In commission: | 1742-1762 |
| Completed: | 3 |
| Lost: | 2 |
| General characteristics (common design) | |
| Type: | Sloop-of-war |
| Tons burthen: | 248 48⁄94 bm |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 25 ft 1 in (7.6 m) |
| Depth of hold: |
|
| Sail plan: | Snow |
| Complement: | 110 |
| Armament: |
|
The Baltimore class was a class of three sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy during 1742-43. Two were ordered in 1742 and a third in 1743, and constituted a further increase in size from the 200 burthen tons which had been the normal size from 1728 to 1739; the Baltimore was built to a design by Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, one of the members of the Admiralty Board at that time; it is uncertain whether the other two ships were built to the same design, or to the same overall dimensions but to a design prepared by Jacob Allin, the Surveyor of the Navy.
Although initially armed with ten 4-pounder guns, this class was built with nine pairs of gunports on the upper deck (each port flanked by two pairs of row-ports), and the sloops in 1744 had their ordnance increased to fourteen guns. The Baltimore, the only one of the three to survive beyond 1748, was converted into a bomb vessel in 1758.
Vessels
| Name | Ordered | Builder | Launched | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | 7 July 1742 | Thomas West, Deptford |
30 December 1742 | Sold 16 December 1762 |
| Saltash | 19 July 1742 | John Quallett, Rotherhithe |
30 December 1742 | Sunk 24 June 1746 off Beachy Head. |
| Drake | 5 February 1743 | John Buxton, Jnr., Deptford |
28 September 1743 | Sold 18 October 1748 |
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
- McLaughlan, Ian. The Sloop of War 1650-1763. Seaforth Publishing, 2014. ISBN 978-1-84832-187-8.
- Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.