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Rating system of the Royal Navy

Ships of the line First-rate Second-rate Third-rate Fourth-rate Frigates Fifth-rate Sixth-rate Unrated Sloop-of-war

Sixth-rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without. Sixth-rate ships typically had a crew of about 150- 240 men measured between 450 and 550 tons. A 28 gun ship would have about 18 officers, including a captain, two lieutenants and the key warrant officers- the master, the Ship's surgeon, the purser, the gunner, the bosun and the carpenter- and four midshipmen. The rest of the men were the crew, or the 'lower deck'. They slept in hammocks and ate their simple meals at tables, sitting on wooden benches. Some were marines while in a strong crew the bulk of the rest were experienced seamen rated 'able' or 'ordinary'. In a weaker crew there would be a large proportion of 'landsmen', adults who were unused to the sea.

Some sixth-rates were small frigates. Some larger ship-rigged, flush-decked vessels, known as 'post-ships', were rated, which meant they were large enough to rate a Post-Captain in command, instead of a Lieutenant or Commander.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the sixth-rate frigate was found to be too small for the duties expected of a fifth-rate frigate, and was phased out.

In later years sixth-rate frigates were sometimes called "jackass frigates", as they were really not quite big enough for proper frigate duties.

For ships smaller than sixth-rate, see main article rating system of the Royal Navy.

Sixth-Rates in Fiction

HMS Surprise, a fictional frigate captained by Jack Aubrey (based on the actual historical frigate, formerly the French L'Unité, which was captured and renamed by the Royal Navy in 1796) plays a prominent role in many of Patrick O'Brian's popular novels, collectively known as the Aubrey-Maturin Series. It was portrayed in the 2004 film Master and Commander.