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Wolf-class sloop

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Class overview
Operators Royal Navy
Preceded byDrake class
Succeeded byBaltimore class
Built1741–1743
In commission1742–1763
Completed3
Lost2
General characteristics (common design)
TypeSloop-of-war
Tons burthen243 7494 bm
Length
  • 87 ft 6 in (26.7 m) (gundeck)
  • 73 ft 4.75 in (22.4 m) (keel)
Beam25 ft 0 in (7.6 m)
Depth of hold
  • 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) (Wolf)
  • 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) (Otter and Grampus)
Sail planSnow
Complement110
Armament
  • 10 (later 14) × 4-pounder guns;
  • also 12/14 x ½-pounder swivel guns

The Wolf class was a class of three sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy during 1741–43. They were ordered in 1741, 1742 and 1743 respectively, and were the first to increase significantly in size from the 200 burthen tons which had been the normal size from 1728, to a larger 244 tons; they were to a common design prepared by Jacob Allin, the Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard (who was subsequently appointed in 1745 to share the post of Surveyor of the Navy).

These were all built by contract with Thames-side shipbuilders, each at a fixed price of £1,793.8.0d (or £7.7.0d per ton for a nominal 244 burthen tons). After launching, each was fitted out at a Royal Dockyards - Wolf at Deptford at a cost of ££1,653.12.2d, Otter also at Deptford at a cost of £1,582.8.7d, and Grampus at Woolwich Dockyard at a cost of £1,838.13.10d. They were two-masted vessels carrying a snow rig. For the latter two vessels, the design was modified by the addition of 6 inches to their depth in hold.

Although initially armed with ten 4-pounder guns, this class was built with eight pairs of gunports on the upper deck (each port flanked by two pairs of row-ports), and the two survivors in 1744 had their ordnance increased to fourteen guns.

Vessels

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Name Ordered Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate
Wolf 21 July 1741 Thomas West,
Deptford
31 July 1741 27 February 1742 15 April 1742 Wrecked 31 December 1748 in Dundrum Bay (with 109 men drowned).
Otter 23 January 1742 John Buxton, Jnr.,
Rotherhithe
February 1742 19 August 1742 13 September 1742 Sold 16 June 1763 at Deptford to break up.
Grampus 5 February 1743 Philemon Perry,
Blackwall
15 February 1743 27 July 1743 8 September 1743 Captured by the French 30 September 1744 in the Bay of Biscay.

References

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  • 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.
  • 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.