Arrogant-class ship of the line

Scene in Plymouth Sound in August 1815, oil on canvas: HMS Bellerophon anchored in Plymouth Sound, with Napoleon Bonaparte aboard.
Class overview
Name	Arrogant
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Bellona class
Succeeded by	Canada class
In service	22 January 1761 – 1868
Completed	12
Lost	2 (burnt or scuttled as unserviceable)
General characteristics
Type	Ship of the line
Length	168 ft (51 m) (gundeck) 138 ft (42 m) (keel)
Beam	46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Armament	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounders Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounders Quarterdeck: 14 × 9-pounders Forecastle: 4 × 9-pounders
Notes	Ships in class include: Arrogant, Cornwall, Edgar, Goliath, Zealous, Audacious, Elephant, Bellerophon, Saturn, Vanguard, Excellent, Illustrious

The Arrogant-class ships of the line were a class of twelve 74-gun third rate ships designed by Sir Thomas Slade for the Royal Navy.

Design

The Arrogant-class ships were designed as a development of Slade's previous Bellona class, sharing the same basic dimensions. During this period, the original armament was the same across all the ships of the common class, of which the Arrogant-class ships were members. Two ships were ordered on 13 December 1758 to this design (at the same time as the fourth and fifth units of the Bellona class), and a further ten ships were built to a slightly modified version of the Arrogant design from 1773 onwards.

Ships

Ship name	Builder	Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
HMS Arrogant	John Barnard, Harwich	13 December 1758	March 1759	22 January 1761	28 April 1761	Sold at Bombay to be broken up, 1810
HMS Cornwall	William Wells, Deptford	13 December 1758	19 February 1759	19 May 1761	16 September 1761	Burnt or scuttled as unserviceable at St Lucia, 30 June 1780
HMS Edgar	Woolwich Dockyard	25 August 1774	-Nul	30 June 1779		Broken up, 1835
HMS Goliath	Deptford Dockyard	21 February 1778		19 October 1781		Broken up, 1815
HMS Zealous	Barnard, Deptford	19 June 1782		25 June 1785		Broken up, 1816
HMS Audacious	Randall, Rotherhithe			23 July 1785		Broken up, 1815
HMS Elephant	Parsons, Bursledon	27 December 1781		24 August 1786		Broken up, 1830
HMS Bellerophon	Graves, Frindsbury	11 January 1782		6 October 1786		Sold out of the service, 1836
HMS Saturn	Raymond, Northam	22 December 1781		22 November 1786		Broken up, 1868
HMS Vanguard	Deptford Dockyard	9 December 1779		6 March 1787		Broken up, 1821
HMS Excellent	Graham, Harwich	9 August 1781		27 November 1787		Broken up, 1835
HMS Illustrious	Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard	31 December 1781		7 July 1789		Grounded in gale near Livorno (Leghorn) and burnt, 28 March 1795.

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.
• Winfield, Rif (2007) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792; Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.