1706 Establishment The 1706 Establishment was the first formal set of dimensions for ships of the Royal Navy . Two previous sets of dimensions had existed before , though these were only for specific shipbuilding programs running for only a given amount of time . In contrast , the 1706 Establishment was intended to be permanent . Origins . Dimensions for ships had been established for the " Thirty Ships " building program of 1677 , and while these dimensions saw use until 1695 , this was merely because of the success of the 1677 ships and the lack of perceived need to change them . Dimensions were then laid down for the 1691 " Twenty - seven Ships " program to build seventeen eighty - gun and ten sixty - gun double - decked ships of the line , though the dimensions were abandoned before the program was complete , with the final four eighty - gun ships being constructed with three gun - decks . The origins of the formalized 1706 Establishment can be traced to February 1705 , when Prince George of Denmark , the Lord High Admiral at the time , ordered the Navy Board to determine a set of dimensions for second - rate ships . Though the second - rate ships appear to have been the central focus of the Establishment , the Board was also directed to consider dimensions for ships of the third - ( 80 and 70 guns ) , fourth - ( 60 and 50 guns ) , and fifth - rate ships ( 40 and 30 guns ) . Because of their rarity and power , first rate s were not addressed by the Establishment and were given individual designs , whilst smaller vessels had a low enough cost to allow experimentation . The Navy Board used existing ships considered to be the best in their respective classes as the bases for these dimensions . Implementation . The Navy Board produced sets of dimensions for ships from forty , fifty , sixty , seventy , eighty , and ninety guns ( they decided against doing so for thirty - gun ships ) . After a last - minute adjustment created by Admiral George Churchill , the dimensions were sent out to the dockyards together with an order that they were to be strictly adhered to , and that they should apply to rebuilds as well as new ships . The implementation of the Establishment - the first of many - began an era of notorious conservatism in naval administration . Though there would be no significant technological changes until the following century , the naval architecture of the 1706 Establishment slowly became more antiquated for the early eighteenth century . Individual ship types . 90 - gun second - rates . Seven existing second - rates were rebuilt to the 1706 Establishment , including three whose reconstruction was ordered in 1704 - 1705 . These first three were the " Marlborough " of 1706 ( rebuilt from the old " Saint Michael " ) , " Blenheim " of 1709 ( rebuilt from the old " Duchess " ) and the " Vanguard " of 1710 . The other four ships were the " Neptune " of 1710 , " Ossory " of 1711 , " Sandwich " of 1715 and " Barfleur " of 1716 . These ships were originally armed as 96 - gun ships under the 1703 Establishment of Guns . They were re - armed as 90 - gun ships under the 1716 Establishment of Guns , with heavier 32 - lb and 9 - lb on the lower and upper decks ( the middle deck 18 - lb were unaltered ) , but with one pair of 6 - lb removed from each of the partial decks above to leave : 80 - gun third - rates . Eight of the older type of two - decker 80 - gun ships were rebuilt as three - deckers under the 1706 Establishment - the " Boyne " and " Humber " launched in 1708 , the " Russell " in 1709 , the " Dorsetshire " in 1712 , the " Newark " and " Shrewsbury " in 1713 , " Cambridge " in 1715 and " Torbay " in 1719 . In addition , two new ships were built to this specification as replacements for ships lost in 1707 - the " Devonshire " and " Cumberland " both being launched in 1710 . The ships were initially armed with 80 guns as per the 1703 Establishment of Guns , as shown in the table at right . The 1716 Establishment of Guns replaced the 24pdr guns on the lower deck by an equal number of 32 - lb . It also added one pair of 6 - lb to the upper deck , removing one pair of 6 - lb from the quarter deck . 70 - gun third - rates . Following the loss of four 70 - gun ships in a single night during the Great Storm on 27 November 1703 , four replacements were ordered from the Royal Dockyards just three weeks later - the " Northumberland " , " Resolution " and " Stirling Castle " being launched in 1705 and the " Nassau " in 1707 . Another four were ordered in 1705 - 1706 , again from the Dockyards - the " Elizabeth " and " Restoration " launched in 1706 , while another " Resolution " and " Captain " were launched in 1708 . Subsequently , two more ships were newbuilt ( the " Grafton " and " Hampton Court " , both launched in 1709 ) and three rebuilt from existing third - rates ( the " Edgar " and " Yarmouth " in 1709 , and " Orford " in 1713 ) by contract ; and another five were rebuilt in the Dockyards - the " Royal Oak " , " Expedition " , " Suffolk " , " Monmouth " and " Revenge " . The ships were initially armed with 70 guns as per the 1703 Establishment of Guns , as shown in the table at right . Under the 1716 Establishment , a thirteenth pair of 24 - lb was added on the lower deck , while the demi - culverins ( 9 - lb ) on the upper deck were upgraded to 12 - lb . An extra pair of 6 - lb was added to the quarter deck , while the 3 - lb were removed from the roundhouse to retain the total at 70 guns . 60 - gun fourth - rates . Four 60 - gun ships were newbuilt to the 1706 Establishment - the " Plymouth " launched in 1708 , the " Lion " and " Gloucester " in 1709 , and the " Rippon " in 1712 - while four existing 60 - gun ships were rebuilt to the same specification from 1714 onwards - the " Montagu " , " Medway " , " Kingston " and " Nottingham . As per the 1703 Establishment of Guns , the ships were initially armed with 64 guns as shown in the table at right . The 1716 Establishment of Guns replaced the 18 - lb on the lower deck by 24 - lb , and reduced the ships to 60 guns by removing one pair of 6 - lb from the quarter deck and another pair from the forecastle to result in a composition of : 50 - gun fourth - rates . Eleven new 50 - gun ships were built to the 1706 Establishment ( all as replacements for fourth - rates lost during the war years from 1703 onwards ) - the " Salisbury " launched in 1707 , the " Falmouth " , " Ruby " , " Chester " and " Romney " in 1708 , the " Pembroke " in 1710 , the " Bristol " , " Gloucester " and " Ormonde " in 1711 , the " Advice " in 1712 and the " Strafford " in 1715 . Another existing eight ships were rebuilt to the same specification - the " Dragon " in 1707 , the " Warwick " and " Bonaventure " in 1711 , the " Assistance " in 1713 , the " Worcester " in 1714 , and the " Rochester " , " Panther " and " Dartmouth " in 1716 . These vessels were initially armed as 54 - gun ships to the 1703 Establishment of Guns ( see table to right ) . Under the 1716 Establishment of Guns , they were re - classed as 50 - gun ships with the following armament : 40 - gun fifth - rates . Fifteen 42 - gun ships were newbuilt to the dimensions of the 1706 Establishment - the " Ludlow Castle " , " Gosport " , " Portsmouth " and " Hastings " launched in 1707 , the " Pearl " , " Mary Galley " , " Sapphire " and " Southsea Castle " in 1708 , the " Enterprise " , " Adventure " and " Fowey " in 1709 , " Charles Galley " in 1710 , " Launceston " in 1711 , " Faversham " in 1712 and " Lynn " in 1715 . Two similar ships were built on speculation by the contractor William Johnson at Blackwall and purchased by the Navy Board - the " Looe " in 1707 and " Diamond " in 1708 . A further 40 - gun ship was also built nominally to the same specification - the " Royal Anne Galley " of 1709 - but she emerged longer and leaner than the others . The ships were initially armed to the 1703 Establishment of Guns ( see table to right ) . Under the 1716 Gun Establishment , they became 40 - gun ships , with an armament as follows : 30 - gun fifth - rates . While no formal set of recommendations for 30 - gun ships was produced by the Navy Board in the 1706 Establishment , a de facto set of dimensions was adopted , which were used for the construction of two new 32 - gun fifth - rates ( " Sweepstakes " in 1708 and " Scarborough " in 1711 ) , while the " Bedford Galley " was rebuilt to slightly smaller dimensions in 1709 : The 1716 Establishment of Guns altered their armament to 30 guns :