Flora-class frigate

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}

{{Infobox ship begin}} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:Thomas Whitcombe - HMS Crescent, under the command of Captain James Saumarez, capturing the French frigate Réunion off Cherbourg, 20 October 1793 CSK 2017.jpg |Ship caption=A Flora-class frigate, HMS Crescent, capturing the French frigate Réunion off Cherbourg, 20 October 1793 }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name=Flora class |Builders= |Operators= |Class before= |Class after= |Subclasses= |Cost= |Built range=1778–1781 |In service range= |In commission range=1780–1813 |Total ships building= |Total ships planned= |Total ships completed=4 |Total ships cancelled= |Total ships active= |Total ships laid up= |Total ships lost= |Total ships retired= |Total ships preserved= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type=Frigate |Ship tons burthen=868 53/94 (as designed) |Ship length= {{convert|137|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|38|ft|0|in|m|0|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth={{convert|13|ft|m|3|abbr=on}} |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship sail plan=Full-rigged ship |Ship speed= |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship boats= |Ship troops= |Ship complement=260 - 270 |Ship armament=*36 guns comprising: Upperdeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pounder guns Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns |Ship armour= |Ship notes= }}

The Flora-class frigates were 36-gun sailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy. They were designed in 1778 by Sir John Williams in response to an Admiralty decision to discontinue 32-gun, {{convert|12|pdr|adj=on}}, vessels.Winfield pp. 203 - 204 Williams proposed a frigate with a main battery of twenty-six {{convert|18|lb|adj=on}} guns and a secondary armament of ten {{convert|6|pdr|adj=off}}. Four 18-pounder carronades and 12 swivel guns were added to the upperworks in September 1799 and the 6-pound long guns were upgraded to 9-pounders in April 1780, before any of the ships were completed.Winfield p. 204

The drafted vessel had a {{convert|137|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} gundeck, she was {{convert|113|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} at the keel, with a {{convert|38|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} beam, and a depth in the hold of {{convert|13|ft|m|3|abbr=on}}; she was 868 {{small|{{Fraction|53|94}}}} tons burthen. Initially intended for a crew of 260 this was increased to 270 when the secondary armament was boosted on 25 April 1780.

The first of the class, {{HMS|Flora|1780|6}} was ordered on 6 November 1778. The second ship, ordered on 19 December 1780, had the position of its hawseholes changed to just above the cheeks. This design modification carried over to the last two ships, requested between August and December 1781, which also had their lines slightly altered.

Flora-class frigates served in the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars.Winfield pp. 204 - 205 The last to be built, {{HMS|Romulus|1785|6}} was ordered in December 1781 by which time, Williams' Latona-class frigate was in service, a 38-gun 18-pounder built to compete with Edward Hunt's Minerva-class.Winfield p. 207