A Four-decker Ship of the Line.

[Naharaht]

I have just discovered that the Royal Navy at one time considered building a four-decker ship of the line. I came across it on http://navalanalyses.blogspot.co.uk/...-warships.html

Four years after the Battle of Trafalgar, the Napoleonic War’s decisive naval engagement, the Royal Navy planned to build what would have been Britain and possibly the World’s largest ship of war. The four-decked, 170-gunned Man of War would have been larger than any other contemporary British, French or Spanish ship of the line. The average first rate ship of the line had three gun decks and normally carried between 98 and 110 guns and were manned by 800 men. The largest and most heavily armed ship of the line of the day was the Spanish Santísima Trinidad that had at her peak 140 guns and a compliment of over 1,000 sailors aboard. The design was proposed by Joseph Tucker, Surveyor of the Navy between 1806 and 1822 (a civilian member of the Navy Board who was tasked with ship design). The Duke of Kent would have required a crew of 1,200 men to man her 170 guns and attend to her sails. However, sadly she was never built. The cost of building a first rate, the largest and most powerful battleships of the age of sail was astronomical, a ship the size of the Duke of Kent would have cost approximately £100,000. With the building of Duke of Kent never realised, the Royal Navy’s largest ships of the period were HMS Caledonia and the class based on her design, which carried 120 guns when commissioned in 1808. (Source: http://www.historicalfirearms.info/p...kent-the-royal)

[Bligh]

Very interesting Dave.
I would have liked to see that in action, if it had been any better than the Santisima.
I wonder what its sailing qualities would have been like?
Rob.

[Naharaht]

Perhaps one of our model builders would like the challenge of building a model of H.M.S. Duke of Kent for the game. I imagine that assessing its potential sailing and fighting capabilities would be difficult.

[Hjl]

Interesting. I wonder if they will ever make the Caledonia.

[Diamondback]

Hugh, my bet is unless Ares straightens out the First Rate sculpts Caledonia will be just another reprint--her design seems to be an evolved, improved and stretched Victory by some accounts.

[TexaS]

I would have liked to see that in action, if it had been any better than the Santisima.

Not that Santisima was that great... There were many first rates better than her. She was mostly a symbol.

[Bligh]

Not that Santisima was that great... There were many first rates better than her. She was mostly a symbol.

That's why I was questioning the Duke of Kent's capabilities Jonas.
Just like the Santisima it probably sailed like a brick.
It's just that ships that size would look good on the table, if Ares could get the scale right.
Rob.

[TexaS]

Yes, but I doubt them having a gun deck of almost useless cannon.

[Bligh]

Another very good point Jonas.
One we have skirted around but never fully discussed in the unofficial rules.
Rob.

[Hjl]

How do you mean?

[Nightmoss]

I actually started a thread on HMS Duke of Kent a while back. I was looking for information on 3 and 4 deck ships in general and stumbled on it much like David did?

http://sailsofglory.org/showthread.p...ight=caledonia

I also found one photo of HMS Caledonia when she appears to have been serving as a training ship. See above thread for that shot. Also found a site with some amazing photos of ships here:

http://gcaptain.com/arse-school-ships-uk/

One of my favorite shots from that site is of HMS Britannia moored in the River Dart



If I were to kit bash a version of the Duke I'd no doubt start with the French First Rates and go from there. Most likely she'd end up looking a lot like the USS Pennsylvania, but I'd add an additional gun deck on top of the one already in place? I wonder if it would be easier to add from the bottom or put it on the top?

[Bligh]

How do you mean?

The fact that in all but a dead calm the lower gundeck ports could not be opened, nor the leeside if she were heeling with the wind.

Rob.

[Naharaht]

The National Maritime Museum at Greenwich has several scale models of H.M.S. Caledonia in different colour schemes, pictures of her and even some plans, which can be seen on the website.http://www.rmg.co.uk/search/site/HMS%20Caledonia

Here is a picture of one of the models.

[TexaS]

The fact that in all but a dead calm the lower gundeck ports could not be opened, nor the leeside if she were heeling with the wind.

Add to that the fact that 8 pounders on a first rate was practically useless due to not really penetrating the heavier ships that you'd expect to meet. She was also downgraded from 136 to 130 guns and still had terrible sailing qualities.

It's a ship you want because it's a symbol and it's cool, but in reality it was expensive and not very good.

[Hjl]

I actually started a thread on HMS Duke of Kent a while back. I was looking for information on 3 and 4 deck ships in general and stumbled on it much like David did?

http://sailsofglory.org/showthread.p...ight=caledonia

I also found one photo of HMS Caledonia when she appears to have been serving as a training ship. See above thread for that shot. Also found a site with some amazing photos of ships here:

http://gcaptain.com/arse-school-ships-uk/

One of my favorite shots from that site is of HMS Britannia moored in the River Dart



If I were to kit bash a version of the Duke I'd no doubt start with the French First Rates and go from there. Most likely she'd end up looking a lot like the USS Pennsylvania, but I'd add an additional gun deck on top of the one already in place? I wonder if it would be easier to add from the bottom or put it on the top?

That's a beautifle model.