List of ships of the line of the Royal Navy
This is a list of ships of the line of the Royal Navy of England, and later (from 1707) of Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. The list starts from 1660, the year in which the Royal Navy came into being after the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II, up until the emergence of the battleship around 1880, as defined by the Admiralty. The early Restoration period (1660–77). This list includes several earlier ships which were "rebuilt" for the Royal Navy in this period—specifically the first-rate "Prince  Royal" (in 1663), the second-rate "Victory" (in 1666), the third-rate "Montague" (in 1675) and the fourth-rates "Bonaventure" (in 1663) and "Constant Warwick" (in 1666). The process, which generally involved the dismantling in dry dock of the old ship and constructing it to a new design incorporating part of the materials from the old vessel, produced what were in effect substantially new ships with altered dimensions and sizes, and generally mounting a somewhat larger number of guns. The above list excludes two smaller fourth-rates not designed for the line of battle—the galley-frigates "Charles Galley" and  James Galley of 1676. It also excludes four fifth-rates of 36 guns (the "Falcon" and "Sweepstakes" of 1666, the "Nonsuch" of 1668, and the "Phoenix" of 1671) which were re-classed as 42-gun fourth rates some years after their original completion, but later reverted to being fifth-rates. List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1688–97). The "Twenty-Seven Ships" programme of 1691. This programme was approved by Parliament on 10 October 1690. While nominally it comprised 17 third rates of 80 guns and ten fourth rates of 60 guns, funds for three third rates  of 70 guns were provided at virtually the same date as the Programme, which should thus strictly speaking refer to Thirty Ships. List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1697–1719). 1706 Establishment. The 1706 Establishment established a desired set of principal dimensions for each "group" (i.e. size) of warship from the 40-gun fifth rate up to the 90-gun second rate (first rates and ships of less than 40 guns were not covered by the 1706 Establishment). As only the principal dimensions were specified, the design of individual ships remained with the Master Shipwright in each  Dockyard; thus ships of the same number of guns built to this Establishment did not constitute a "class" in the modern sense of all being built to one design. The seven Second rates of this Establishment were ordered as 96-gun vessels under the ordnance specification of the 1703 Guns Establishment, but the subsequent 1716 Guns Establishment reduced this armament to 90 guns. The ten three-decker third rates of this Establishment were ordered as 80-gun vessels under the ordnance specification of the 1703 Guns Establishment, while the subsequent 1716 Guns Establishment retained this total (while making slight adjustments ). The first nineteen of the following vessels were ordered between 1706 and 1714 as 54-gun vessels, armed under the 1703 Guns Establishment with a main battery of 12-pounder guns. Under the 1716 Guns Establishment, the 54-gun ship was superseded by a 50-gun ship with a main battery of 18-pounder guns. The last ten ships listed below were ordered from 1715 onward which were established and armed to the 1716 Guns Establishment, and the existing 54-gun ships were re-armed to this standard as each came into a dockyard for refitting and opportunity allowed. These  small two-decker warships were not ships of the line as they were not powerful enough to stand in the line of battle. They were informally described as frigates and are included in the article on that topic. These small two-decker warships were not ships of the line as they were not powerful enough to stand in the line of battle. They were informally described as frigates and are included in the article on that topic. List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1719–41). Smaller ships (fifth rates). These small two-decker warships were not ships  of the line as they were not powerful enough to stand in the line of battle. They were informally described as frigates and are included in the article on that topic. List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1741–55). Other ships. Two ships of 74 guns were ordered in January 1748 from Chatham and Woolwich Dockyards, but with the end of the War of Austrian Succession both were cancelled in 1748. List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1755–85). By or soon after the appointment of Baron George Anson as First Lord of the  Admiralty in 1751, the system of establishments that covered the design of British warships was abandoned, and with the appointment of Thomas Slade and William Bately as joint holders of the post of Surveyor of the Navy in 1755, new principles governed the composition of the battle fleet. The Navy Board stopped building any further three-decker 80-gun ships. Production of the 70-gun and 60-gun ships also ceased. Instead, new 74-gun and 64-gun ships replaced these classes. Although 50-gun and 44-gun two-deckers continued to be built for cruising duties, the Navy no  longer considered the 50-gun ships powerful enough to serve as ships of the line. Fourth rates of 50 guns (two-deckers). Note that from 1756 onward the 50-gun ships were no longer counted as ships of the line as the Navy no longer considered them powerful enough to stand in the line of battle. Note the six Dutch ships above were 54-gun ships, so the British Navy as classed them as Fourth rate two-deckers, and not as ships of the line. List of ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1830–47). Captain Sir William Symonds  served as Surveyor of the Navy from 1832 to 1847. Captain Symonds was a naval officer and yacht designer, "who had risen to prominence by his success in competitive sailing trials between small warships. His selection implied a criticism of the dockyard-trained architects of the preceding 200 years". Symonds attempted a revolution in warship design. His ships were designed to be faster under sail, and have more room for the gunners to work the guns (improving ergonomics). To achieve this, his ships were larger, and used a different hull form to provide stability without needing large amounts of ballast . Unfortunately the Surveyor's department was understaffed for the amount of work they were undertaking, and mistakes were made. Symonds' designs had more stability than was desirable, with the result that they rolled excessively and therefore were poor gun platforms. Another problem with Symonds' ships was that they were very sensitive to the distribution of weights on board ship, such as the stores carried and consumed on a voyage. Symonds worked very closely with John Edye, an experienced and well-educated shipwright officer. Edye was responsible for the details of structure and construction. The ships that Symonds and Edye designed  had far more iron in their structure than the previous generation of ships designed by Seppings. List of unarmoured steam ships-of-the-line of the Royal Navy (1847–61). "Ships have been listed by class as in Lambert." (Also: *) References. "For subsequent capital ships of the Royal Navy, please see List of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy and List of dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy."