Valiant-class ship of the line

Valiant-class
Class overview
Name	Valiant
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Hercules class
Succeeded by	Bellona class
In service	10 August 1759 - 1850
Completed	2
General characteristics
Type	Ship of the line
Length	172 ft (52 m) (gundeck) 139 ft (42 m) (keel)
Beam	49 ft 8 in (15.14 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Armament	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounders Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounders Quarterdeck: 10 × 9-pounders Forecastle: 2 × 9-pounders
Notes	Ships in class include: Valiant, Triumph

The Valiant-class ships of the line were a class of two 74-gun third rates of the Royal Navy.

Design

The draught for the two Valiant-class ships was a copy of the lines of the captured French ship Invincible, which had been captured during the First Battle of Cape Finisterre. They were slightly longer than other British 74s of the time, and carried a significantly heavier armament (thirty 24-pounders on their upper gun decks as opposed to the twenty-eight 18-pounders found on the upper gun decks of all other British 74s at the time). The second of the two ships was launched in 1764, and there would not be another 'large' type 74 until the Mars-class, the first of which was launched in 1794.

Ships

• HMS Valiant

Builder: Chatham Dockyard

Ordered: 21 May 1757

Launched: 10 August 1759

Fate: Broken up, 1826

• HMS Triumph

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard

Ordered: 21 May 1757

Launched: 3 March 1764

Fate: Broken up, 1850

References

• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.