Underrated Vessels- The Sloop
While the more or less large vessels were divided into rates. First, second etc. according to the cannons they had on board. There was also a large number of underrated vessels. The larger groups represented the sloops. The term sloop can be quite misleading, because in the original, this class of vessel was nothing more than a single-masted vessel. But we are talking about sloop of war, a vessel which was commanded by an officer in the rank of a master and commander and armed with 10-18 guns, depending on the class of the sloop.
Ship Sloops with Quarterdeck
Large sloops were built like a sixth rate frigate. There were smaller versions of them, andIt was called Ship Sloops with Quarterdeck.
HMS (Sloop of War) Hyacinth, 18-guns 1829
They entered the Royal Navy around the 1790s and were based on French originals. Therefore the early examples still carried 14- 16, 6pdr. guns and 12- 14 swivel guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle. This changed in 1800, when the swivel guns were replaced by 12 pdr. carronades and eventually took almost the entire ship. Sloops of the Conway class for example had, 18, 32-pdr. carronades on the main deck, had six 12- pdr. carronades on the quarterdeck. And two 6.pdr. long guns and two 12.pdr. carrondes on the forecastle. All in all these sloops did not take the main group, in 1814 there were only 74 in service.
Flushed- decked Ship Sloops
Most ship rigged sloops were flushed decked. That means they had no quarterdeck and no forecastle or only a very small one and that was unarmed.
Destruction of La Mouche French Privateer of Boulogne…. by H.M. Ship Hermes Septr 14th 1811 off Beachy Head in a heavy Gale. The Hermes was a flushed- decked sloop
Therefore these sloops were only lightly armed with only 16-18 carronades on board. The first four of them went into service in 1796. They did not change much in their design and they were always armed carronades, but their number was always quite small. And so in 1814 there were only 20 in service. Later, after an increase in the number of carronades, several more were taken into service again.
Brig Sloops were the largest group of sloops. They existed since the 1770s and developed from small merchant ships.
HMS (Brig Sloop) Flirt, Speedy Class with a flushed deck, 14-guns, launched 1782, new time model
In the 1780s there were only 11, and they were not unlike the flushed decked sloops. They also had usually no quarterdeck, were similar in their armament (some were armed only with carronades, others had long guns in the waist, the middle part of the main deck) and in their appearance. But in contrast to the ship sloops they had only two masts brig rigged i.e.foremast, mainmast and bowsprit only. Until 1814 a total of 181 brig sloops were put into service.
While the frigate was the scout and protector of the ships of line. The sloop was the frigate’s scout and protector even though they played a marginal role in big battles, they watch from far away and take out enemy sloops and had avoid of being a victim of the more heavily armed frigates. When not in service with the frigates they took over patrol and scout functions in the channel. But also courier and transport services were part of their duties. Although their number was not always very high during the Napoleonic Wars, they became so during the 19th century. Even if they were small and rather weakly armed, this strength was sufficient to cope with the later conflicts. Even if accompanied by the frigates.
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