The warships of the period from the accession of Charles I until the end of the age of sail, were rated according to the number of cannon they carried.
It was all started in 1677 by Samuel Pepys Secretary to the Admiralty, and was re classified in 1714, 1721, 1760, 1782 and 1801. In basic terms the higher the rate the more guns the ship carried. So in the time of Nelson a 'first rate warship' had between 100 and 120 guns. There were six rates in all and the lowest rate had between 6 and 18 guns. Rates First Second and Third, were classed by the 'term ship of the line'¹. First and second rate ships of the line also had three gun decks and the height and mass to take, and administer great damage. This meant the ship were able to endure a battle, and exchange broadsides with the largest of enemy ships. Third rate ships often had two decks but were still powerful enough to engage in the line of battle.

The Rating Of Ships Of The Line

For Ships-of-the-line the rates were as follows:

• A ship with more than 90 guns - was classed as 1st Rate.
• A ship with more than 80 guns - was classed as 2nd Rate.
• A ship with more than 54 guns - was classed as 3rd Rate.

Other rated ships.

• A ship with more than 38 guns - was classed as 4th Rate.
• A ship with more than 18 guns - was classed as 5th Rate.
• A ship with more than 6 guns - was classed as 6th Rate.

The ships guns of the Trafalgar period were classed by the weight of the shot they fired (the solid round shot known as cannon ball) and varied in size from the 42 pound cannon, to the 12 pound carronades on the upper deck.

The largest gun the 42 pound cannon, this had a range of 1.1 miles (1.70 kilometres). Although this was impressive this was bettered by the 32 pound cannon, this had a range of 1.2 miles² (1.90 kilometres). At short range these cannon could smash through the re-enforced oak of a ships hull up to a meter thick.

The Gun Crew

The large cannon of a ship of the line needed a crew of up to 8 men to load and fire it with another 6 to 8 men to man the recoil rigging, and to run out the gun when loaded. The gun crew included

1. Gun captain.
2. Second Gun captain.
3. Handspikeman.
4. Loader.
5. Sponger.
6. Assistant loader.
7. Assistant Sponger.
8. Powderman.

The shortest range was the 12 pound carronade, which had a range of half a mile (0.79 kilometres).

Fighting Tactics

In order to understand the way that these battles were fought a brief explanation of the tactics used is necessary. The British navy's tactics at the time were, in the main, to fire solid shot into the hull of the enemy ship, thus trying to sink it outright. They used to do this by timing the firing of the guns so that the ship fired its broadside 'on the downroll' I.e.: when the roll of the ship was such that the guns were aiming lower. This, incidentally caused enormous casualties on the other side, not from cannonballs piercing the hulls of the enemy ship, rather from the splinters of wood shooting across the inside of the enemy gundecks whenever the outside of the hull was hit by a cannonball.

The French, on the other hand, used much more grapeshot and fired 'on the uproll', aiming for the masts and rigging of their enemies, with the final aim of simply disabling the enemy ship before closing to board and capture it.

This is one of the reasons for the disproportionate casualty figures³ of battles like The Battle of the Nile and Trafalgar.

Royal and Private Dockyards

Regardless of type the construction of all rated ships had normally had three masts, with a typical configuration (from the front) of fore mast, main mast and mizzen mast. Schooners could only have a single mast, and all ships that had less than three were normally either brigs or sloops. If the ship were in the command of a captain, then it was classed as a frigate, as this was the smallest that could be assigned to a captain.

The Royal dockyards of Sheerness, est, 1665, Plymouth, est,1690, Devonport, est, 1690, Chatham⁴, est, 1567, Portsmouth, est, 1495, Halifax, est, 1759 and Pembroke, est, 1815 Dockyards and the yards on the Thames at Woolwich, est, 1512, Harwich, est, 1722 and Deptford, est, 1513, built the majority of the Navy’s ships. Not all were built in England, Gibraltar Dockyard was established in 1704, and some ships were built in India due to the timber supply and the could be modified for the local conditions. Dockyards were also established in Jamaica, est. 1675 and Antigua, est. 1671.
The ability of the private yards to build ships was impressive, Blackwell built ten frigates in 1812.

The Royal dockyards or Government yards, built ships of all sizes 120, 100, 98, 74, 40 and 18 guns.
And the private yards⁵ were commissioned to build the smaller ships of 74, 40 and 18 guns.

The amount spent by the Government on ships of all sizes in the year 1795, was close to 6.25 million pounds. In the years just prior to Trafalgar the total had gone up to over 15 million pounds, HMS Victory was built at the Cost of £63,175 in 1765.

Ships Boats and Service Craft

In order to carry out the daily routine and service the ships, all of the fighting ships of the time were equipped with a variety of small rowing boats. They were;

The Pinnace 28 feet - 8.5 meters; this was the boat used by the officers for going ashore or for travelling between ships as the need arose.

The Launches 34 feet - 10.5 meters; These were the work boats of the navy, used for all the day to day tasks, fetching supplies, carrying equipment and landing the marines during costal raids.

The Cutters varied from 25 feet - 7.5 meters to 18 feet - 5.5 meters; These were used for carrying men between ships and ship to shore. These were the boat of choice for tasks such as close surveying of coastlines and rivers.

The last of these was the Admirals barge 32 feet - 9.70 meters; This vessel as only found on a flagship and was for the exclusive use of the Admiral. The barge was often manned by a hand picked crew and these men were often issued a ceremonial uniform.

Prize Money

The introduction of prize money was very useful in providing ships. The system worked like this, any enemy ship taken in action was given a value by the High Court of the Admiralty as set out in the 'Cruisers and Convoys' Act of 1708. And the money was shared between the officers and crew of all ships involved in the action. To keep the system fair the involvement included all ships visible, even those on the horizon.

The way prize money was shared was strictly set down;

• Admirals; one eighths share.
• Captains; two eighths share between them.
• Ships Lieutenants, Masters, Surgeons and the Captains of Marines; one eighths share between them.
• Ships Chaplain, Senior Warrant Officers and Lieutenants of Marines; one eighths share between them.
• Ships Midshipmen, Ordinary Warrant Officers, Senior Warrant Officer's Mates to the Senior
  Warrant Officers , Sergeants of Marines; one eighths share between them.
• The ships crew and marines and all others; two eighths share between them.

As an example of the potential income, four British ships took two Spanish frigates
Each captain had over £40,000 and even the lowest ranks on each ship had £180.

This made a big difference to those who were fortunate enough to have benefited, as the monthly pay for a Captain was £16 16s 0d and that of the ordinary seaman was £1 5s 6p.

All sides in this conflict lost ships to the enemy, over a ten year period starting in 1793 the approximate losses were, England lost 51 ships captured, France lost 279 ships captured and Spain 57 ships captured. When compared to the losses in battle England lost 5 ships destroyed, France lost 99 ships destroyed and there are no records for the Spanish losses.

Armament And Shot

The guns (cannons) that the ship carried counted towards the ships rate. All large smooth bore muzzle loading cannon counted toward the rating, the only cannon that did not count was the smaller 12 pound carronade, this was not included.

Round shot

The most basic projectile fired from a smooth bore cannon. Solid cast iron and having a diameter slightly smaller than the cannon used to fire it. It had the longest range and was the most accurate of the ammunition that was used in a cannon. Round shot was the most devastating of all the projectiles used against ships, at close range it could smash through the solid oak of a ships hull.

Grape shot

The 68 pounder carronades⁶, known as ’The Smashers’ on HMS Victory could fire a canvas bag of 500 musket balls. As was shown at Trafalgar when the Bucentaure's stern was raked by one, the shot caused great numbers causalities from end to end of the ship.

Canister shot

This was similar to grape shot however it consisted of half a pound of musket shot it was tightly packed in a metal container that burst on impact, the shot caused great numbers causalities in a more localised area of the ship. The effective range of this type of shot was 200 yards.

Chain shot

This made an appearance in 1665. It was made by attaching two round shot together with a length of chain. The chain could be up to 2 meters long, and the shot used could be cast as half round. The important thing is the size of the shot was smaller than the calibre than the cannon in which it was used.

The range was limited as the shot was a loose fit and much of the propelling force of the gunpowder was lost. Commonly used in navel battles the shot spiralled through the air and would cut rigging and smash yards.

Bar shot and expanding bar shot

It was made by attaching two round shot together with a solid or expanding (sliding) bar, The bar was short, and the shot used could be cast as half round. Again it was important thing is the size of the shot was smaller than the calibre than the cannon in which it was used. The purpose of bar shot was similar to that chain shot.

When fired the bar shot spiralled through the air, tearing sails and cutting rigging as it went. The point was to disable the ships sails and take it out of the battle. It was practice to attach canvas rags soaked in oil or tallow to the bar, this was set on alight when fired causing the extra hazard of fire on the enemy ships.

HMS Victory

Without doubt the best way to get an insight into the life on board a ship of the line during this time is to visit HMS Victory now berthed at Portsmouth dockyard in southern England. The 2,162 ton 1st rate HMS Victory was launched in 1765, and put into service in 1778. Victory was in action for 34 years, she was the last of five ships to be named Victory⁷. At Trafalgar, the HMS Victory was commanded by Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy⁸ he had under his command; 9 Officers, 21 Midshipmen , 77 Warrant and Petty Officers. The rest of the ships compliment were 820 Crewmen and 31 boys. The crew seemed to be remarkably multi national apart from the expected compliment from;

• England.
• Scotland.
• Wales.
• Ireland.
• Isle of Man.

Men from 9 European countries served on Victory, surprisingly there were 2 from France. The countries represented were as follows;

• French 2.
• Swiss 2.
• Dutch.
• Portuguese.
• Maltese.
• Norwegian.
• German.
• Italian.
• Swedish.

There were men from even further away and surprisingly 17 men from America and 2 from Canada the full list from outside Europe was;

• American 17.
• Canadian 2.
• West Indian 4.
• Brazilian.
• Jamaican.
• Indian.

In addition there were 146 Royal Marines from Chatham Division. The Marine commander was a Captain Charles Adair.

After Trafalgar HMSVictory was stationed in Portsmouth and was used in a secondary role for just over for 100 years, becoming a monument to the memory of Nelson. In 1922 Victory was put into a dry dock at Portsmouth dockyard, and she was restored to her Trafalgar condition, the ship is now open to visitors. HMS Victory is the world's oldest commissioned warship, and is still manned by Officers and Ratings of the Royal Navy. Today she is the flagship of the Second Sea Lord of the Admiralty in his role as Commander in Chief of the Royal Navy's Home Command (CINCNAVHOME). At the moment⁹ that job is filled by Vice-Admiral Adrian Johns her current commanding officer is Lieutenant Commander J Scivier.