Class overview
Name	Lyme
Operators	Royal Navy
Succeeded by	Lowestoffe class
Built	1747–1749
In service	1749–1771
Completed	2
Lost	1
Retired	1
General characteristics
Type	24-gun (later 28-gun) sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	581+50⁄94 bm
Length	117 ft 10 in (35.9 m) (overall) 96 ft 5.5 in (29.4 m) (keel)
Beam	33 ft 8 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold	10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	160 (raised to 180 on 22 September 1756, and to 200 on 11 November 1756)
Armament	28 guns: Upper gundeck: 24 × 9 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 3 pdrs (after 22 September 1756) + 12 × ½pdr swivels after 11 November 1756

The Lyme class were a class of two 24-gun sixth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy. They served during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War.

They were built to the draught of a French privateer named Le Tygre, which had been captured earlier in 1747. They were initially rated as 24-gun ships, in spite of having four 3-pdr guns mounted on the quarterdeck, as well as the twenty-four 9-pdr guns forming their primary battery on the upper deck. However, in 1756 they were re-classed as 28-gun ships. They are normally seen as the first true sailing frigates to be built for the Royal Navy.

Ships in class

• HMS Lyme
  • Ordered: 29 April 1747
  • Builder: Deptford Royal Dockyard
  • Laid Down: 24 September 1747
  • Launched: 10 December 1748
  • Completed: 8 February 1749
  • Fate: Wrecked off the Baltic coast of Sweden on 18 October 1760.
• HMS Unicorn
  • Ordered: 29 April 1747
  • Builder: Plymouth Royal Dockyard
  • Laid down: 3 July 1747
  • Launched: 7 December 1748
  • Completed: 17 July 1749
  • Fate: Broken up at Sheerness Dockyard in December 1771

References

• David Lyon, "The Sailing Navy List", Brasseys Publications, London 1993.
• Rif Winfield, "British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792", Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6