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Whaaaat? They were, like, the largest British frigate class. Probably the most mass-produced warship design of the era.

 

Have you even glanced at the current lineup of ships?

Every single rated vessel besides Pavel and Bellona has a claim to fame. Ontario, Niagara and Lynx made headlines within our lifetime. Mercury is legendary. Endymion, Amsterdam and most other planned vessels are also well-known. We only get obscure vessels when there is a gap that needs filling and a certain class that needs typifying. Each vessel needs to be able to stand in for dozens or hundreds more. It's called priorities.

 

 

The point is that Trincomalee, which the Leda class actually had a decent amount built, is representative of a lot of different ships and classes - the 38 gun 18lb frigate. Even the United States class had 3 ships plus all the 44 gun Superfrigates they inspired to be built, even into the 1830s. And the French claim that their heavy 40 gun frigates were the predecessors to the American Superfrigates.

Most of the ships in game have the same general characteristics that were generally universal among the ships of the same type. There weren't extremely drastic differences. An extra 100' + mast is pretty drastic/extremely obvious difference. How many ships of the time period had this? If there are 20 ships in game and this is one of them, that is representative of 5% of the ships in naval action. I'm fine with it if all in-game nations get fleshed out (have several ships of different classes/types) first.

Okay so just to clear things up, yes there were a good bit of Leda class frigates commissioned, many of which either, never sailed, or were cancelled or converted during the build process to either screw frigates or converted to another class of ship. (Seringapatam or Cyndnus) Many of the "Leda" frigates were actually of the Cydnus class. There were 24 Leda class frigates made (6 of which were also modified designs), and the Trincomalee is a poor representation of them. The american super frigates weren't inspired by these ships, those were already built by the time the french made the ship Leda. (Hebe class ship) The Trincomalee was a Leda class frigate, but the reason it's significant, is because its made of teak, which made it MUCH lighter (And faster..) than other Leda class frigates, and also much weaker. Oak is much heavier and more durable than teak.

 

@Prater you bring up a good point, it does have one more mast, but it is just a 26 gun privateer, it is faster, but turns much slower than other ships we currently have. But the biggest weakness it has, is since its a small style ship, the guns are tiny. It has 24 6 pound guns, and 2 12 pound carronades. Its not meant to fight as a ship of the line. It was meant to be a ship that a man who had a letter of marque had built to go run down and sack other nation's trade ships that were lightly armed, a good small pirate vessel that was... well easily destroyed by a frigate. Now I do agree that other more significant ships should come out first, including some good trader ships, and some good research ships, and maybe some bomb ketches. But, it is a pretty significant ship itself and as we get more ships it is a good ship for the devs to consider implementing. It doesn't fit with any of the ships we currently have and its hard to class it as OP since it probably could get sunk by a brig or a snow. Its a nice pirate ship and not much else.

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The american super frigates weren't inspired by these ships, those were already built by the time the french made the ship Leda

 

 

Aha. The french made the Leda. Interesting.

 

The Trincomalee was a Leda class frigate, but the reason it's significant, is because its made of teak, which made it MUCH lighter (And faster..) than other Leda class frigates, and also much weaker. Oak is much heavier and more durable than teak.

 

 

Oak much heavier and durable than teak. Also interesting. Is this the reason the Seringapatam (based on the french Président and also made of teak) sat a good deal deeper in the water than actually designed?

 

And the 'Cydnus-class' you mentioned were Ledas, just built of pine, not oak.

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The Trincomalee was a Leda class frigate, but the reason it's significant, is because its made of teak, which made it...  faster..) than other Leda class frigates, and also much weaker.

 

 

What is your source for that? Gardiner records the Lacedaemon and Tanais* as the fastest of any Leda variant, and they were oak and fir-built, respectively.

 

And teak is far superior to oak for resisting corrosion and the rigors of service. The weak Ledas were, of course, the ones built from pine.

 

 

*Totally random name a ship, in honor of a place in Russia I visited once or twice.

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What is your source for that? Gardiner records the Lacedaemon and Tanais* as the fastest of any Leda variant, and they were oak and fir-built, respectively.

 

And teak is far superior to oak for resisting corrosion and the rigors of service. The weak Ledas were, of course, the ones built from pine.

 

 

*Totally random name a ship, in honor of a place in Russia I visited once or twice.

 

I'd need to find the book I read it in, I don't remember the name of it. I can probably find it at the library if I go look again. As far as I know pine is lighter than teak, as far as the oak Leda being the fastest, was it turned into a screw frigate? I'm not sure I've heard of either of those two, don't remember them being listed in the list of Leda class frigates in the book on frigates I read. Are you sure those two are Leda class and not just other types of frigates? The only  Lacedaemon I know is a sloop, and the only Tanais I know is a 3rd rate ship of the line built in france.

 

Aha. The french made the Leda. Interesting.

 

 

Oak much heavier and durable than teak. Also interesting. Is this the reason the Seringapatam (based on the french Président and also made of teak) sat a good deal deeper in the water than actually designed?

 

And the 'Cydnus-class' you mentioned were Ledas, just built of pine, not oak.

 

That could be it, it also depends on how thick it is, they have similar buoyancy, so if it was based on a teak ship and made from oak they might not have taken that into account. But yeah the Leda itself was made by the french, it was a french hebe class ship, the english captured it and based the Leda class on it. The trinc was the only teak Leda ship. What source lists the Cydnus class as Leda? As far as I knew they were commissioned to be Leda class ships, but were then modified and made into a new class of ship, "Cydnus"

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The french never had a frigate called Leda. The french L´Hébé got captured and served as a base for the british Leda-class.

 

Cydnus was the first of the pin-built Ledas and to be able to distinguish between these and the 'normal' Ledas they´re referred to as Cydnus-class.

 

 

And both, Lacedaemonian and Tanais, were Ledas. Source: British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793 -1817, Winfield

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I'd need to find the book I read it in, I don't remember the name of it. I can probably find it at the library if I go look again. As far as I know pine is lighter than teak, as far as the oak Leda being the fastest, was it turned into a screw frigate? I'm not sure I've heard of either of those two, don't remember them being listed in the list of Leda class frigates in the book on frigates I read. Are you sure those two are Leda class and not just other types of frigates? The only  Lacedaemon I know is a sloop, and the only Tanais I know is a 3rd rate ship of the line built in france.

A screw frigate? :D

 

I recommend getting Robert Gardiner's books (Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars and The Heavy Frigate) as soon as possible. He evaluates the sailing quality reports for each type of Leda.

 

Wikipedia can point you to the Ledas named Lacedaemon and Tanais.

 

It's no surprise that an oak ship was fastest. The lines were drawn for a ship made of oak, not something lighter. And when the British designed frigates (Lively, for instance), they tended to be fastest when stored deep.

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The french never had a frigate called Leda. The french L´Hébé got captured and served as a base for the british Leda-class.

Cydnus was the first of the pin-built Ledas and to be able to distinguish between these and the 'normal' Ledas they´re referred to as Cydnus-class.

And both, Lacedaemonian and Tanais, were Ledas. Source: British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793 -1817, Winfield

From what I've read they are always referred to as Cydnus class, good to know its a sub class of Leda ships. From what I understand there was a ship named Leda, a Hébé class ship. Perhaps renamed Leda when the english captured it.
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A screw frigate? :D

I recommend getting Robert Gardiner's books (Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars and The Heavy Frigate) as soon as possible. He evaluates the sailing quality reports for each type of Leda.

Wikipedia can point you to the Ledas named Lacedaemon and Tanais.

It's no surprise that an oak ship was fastest. The lines were drawn for a ship made of oak, not something lighter. And when the British designed frigates (Lively, for instance), they tended to be fastest when stored deep.

Good to know. More information is always good. I can see how sitting deeper could influence better wave resistance and increase speed, especially in deeper waves. So, now I guess the question is why did they choose the trinc? And screw frigates were frigates that had an engine. Later on when steam ships became big. Quite a few ships commissioned as Leda class were finished as screw frigates.
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From what I've read they are always referred to as Cydnus class, good to know its a sub class of Leda ships. From what I understand there was a ship named Leda, a Hébé class ship. Perhaps renamed Leda when the english captured it.

Apparently not: http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=4672

 

Hebe carried the same name in British service until being broken up in 1811.

 

 

 

So, now I guess the question is why did they choose the trinc?

Gardiner speculates that the British remembered the Leda-class Shannon for beating USS Chesapeake, while Lively-class Macedonian lost to USS United States.

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Apparently not: http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=4672

 

Hebe carried the same name in British service until being broken up in 1811.

 

 

Gardiner speculates that the British remembered the Leda-class Shannon for beating USS Chesapeake, while Lively-class Macedonian lost to USS United States.

 

Ah, makes some sense, I guess it could also be that its still in commission as a museum ship in Great Britain..

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Ah, makes some sense, I guess it could also be that its still in commission as a museum ship in Great Britain..

Oh, you meant why GameLabs chose it.

 

Yes, that's certainly the reason.

 

The devs like replicas, too. We already have Lynx, and are going to get Niagara, Amsterdam and possible Hermione.

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