1706 Establishment

Class overview
A model of the hull of a 90-gun ship following the dimensions of the 1706 Establishment.
Operators:	Royal Navy French Navy
Succeeded by:	1719 Establishment

General characteristics for 90-gun second-rates
Type:	90-gun second-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1551 bm
Length:	162 ft 0 in (49.4 m) (gundeck) 132 ft 0 in (40.2 m) (keel)
Beam:	47 ft 0 in (14.3 m)
Depth of hold:	18 ft 6 in (5.6 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	680 officers and men
Armament:	96 guns (1703 Establishment): Lower deck: 26 demi-cannon (32 lb) Middle deck: 26 culverin (18-lb) Upper deck: 26 demi-culverin (9 lb) Quarter deck: 12 6-lb Forecastle: 4 6-lb Roundhouse: 2 6-lb

General characteristics for 80-gun third-rates
Type:	80-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1283 ²⁹⁄₉₄ bm
Length:	156 ft 0 in (47.5 m) (gundeck) 127 ft 6 in (38.9 m) (keel)
Beam:	43 ft 6 in (13.3 m)
Depth of hold:	17 ft 8 in (5.4 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	570 officers and men (360 in peacetime)
Armament:	80 guns (1703 Establishment): Lower deck: 26 24-lb Middle deck: 26 12-lb Upper deck: 22 6-lb Quarter deck: 6 6-lb

General characteristics for 70-gun third-rates
Type:	70-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1069 bm
Length:	150 ft 0 in (45.7 m) (gundeck) 122 ft 0 in (37.2 m) (keel)
Beam:	41 ft 0 in (12.5 m)
Depth of hold:	17 ft 4 in (5.3 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	500 officers and men (255 in peacetime)
Armament:	70 guns (1703 Establishment): Lower deck: 26 24-lb Upper deck: 24 9-lb Quarter deck: 12 6-lb Forecastle: 4 6-lb Roundhouse: 4 3-lb

General characteristics For 60-gun fourth-rates
Type:	60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	914 ²⁄₉₄ bm
Length:	144 ft 0 in (43.9 m) (gundeck) 119 ft 0 in (36.3 m) (keel)
Beam:	38 ft 0 in (11.6 m)
Depth of hold:	15 ft 8 in (4.8 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	365 officers and men (240 in peacetime)
Armament:	64 guns (1703 Establishment): Lower deck: 24 18-lb Upper deck: 26 9-lb Quarter deck: 10 6-lb Forecastle: 4 6-lb

General characteristics For 50-gun fourth-rates
Type:	50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	703 ⁶⁸⁄₉₄ bm
Length:	130 ft 0 in (39.6 m) (gundeck) 108 ft 0 in (32.9 m) (keel)
Beam:	35 ft 0 in (10.7 m)
Depth of hold:	14 ft 0 in (4.3 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	280 officers and men (185 in peacetime)
Armament:	54 guns (1703 Establishment): Lower deck: 22 12-lb Upper deck: 22 6-lb Quarter deck: 8 6-lb Forecastle: 2 6-lb

General characteristics For 40-gun fifth-rates
Type:	40-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen:	531 ⁶⁄₉₄ bm
Length:	118 ft 0 in (36.0 m) (gundeck) 97 ft 6 in (29.7 m) (keel)
Beam:	32 ft 0 in (9.8 m)
Depth of hold:	13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	190 officers and men (130 in peacetime)
Armament:	42 guns (1703 Establishment): Lower deck: 18 9-lb Upper deck: 20 6-lb Quarter deck: 4 6-lb Forecastle: nil

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.

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 rates 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.

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.

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Wikipedia