ARTOIS class frigates - 38 gun Royal Navy frigates built to a 1793 design by Sir John Henslow - f.e. HMS Diana

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The Artois class were a series of nine frigates built to a 1793 design by Sir John Henslow, which served in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Seven of these ships were built by contract with commercial builders, while the remaining pair (Tamar and Clyde) were dockyard-built - the latter built using "fir" (pitch pine) instead of the normal oak.

They were armed with a main battery of 28 eighteen-pounder cannon on their upper deck, the main gun deck of a frigate. Besides this battery, they also carried two 9-pounders together with twelve 32-pounder carronades on the quarter deck, and another two 9-pounders together with two 32-pounder carronades on the forecastle.

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Ships in class

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Due to the fact, that Jotika / Caldercraft has an Artois frigate in program, the HMS Diana is maybe the most known ship of this class.

HMS Diana was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1794.

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Because Diana served in the Royal Navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorized in 1850 to all surviving claimants.

Diana participated in an attack on a French frigate squadron anchored at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue at the Action of 15 November 1810, which ultimately led to the destruction of the Elisa. (Boats from Diana went in and set fire to the beached Eliza despite heavy fire from shore batteries and three nearby armed brigs; the British suffered no casualties.)

On 7 March 1815 Diana was sold to the Dutch navy for £36,796. On 27 August 1816 she was one of six Dutch frigates that participated in the bombardment of Algiers.

Fate
Diana was destroyed in a fire on 16 January 1839 while in dry-dock at Willemsoord, Den Helder.



But also the other ships of the class had very interesting histories and careers - take a closer look at the wikipedia page of the class and click through

In the following posts you will find several contemporary drawings of the ships of this class
 
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lines

all drawings you can find here:


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Inboard profile plan

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frame

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Partly you can find these drawings with a high resolution here - please take a look at the topic



A very special and highly interesting drawing of the HMS Diana is this one:

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Inboard Works, Expansion of (ZAZ2342)


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Outboard Works, Expansion of (ZAZ2343)

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yard, main (ZAZ2350)


and this one from the HMS Clyde and HMS Tamar

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No scale. Plan showing a part section illustrating the method of scarphing timbers for Clyde (1796) and Tamar (1796), both fir-built 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigates, building at Chatham Dockyard

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and also some beautiful contemporary models are available

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Scale: 1:48. A model of one of the nine ships of the 'Artois/Apollo' class of 38-gun frigates designed by Sir John Henslow and built between 1793 and 1795. Seven were built conventionally in private shipyards and two more were constructed experimentally in fir in the Royal Dockyards at Chatham and Woolwich. Four of the conventional ships were wrecked between 1797 and 1799, and the fir-built ships deteriorated rapidly. The model shows the hull of the ship fully planked and set on a launching cradle, though without the rails on which it will run, as is common on models of this period. The stern decoration and figurehead are carefully carved and some features such as decorations and the steering wheel are made in bone. The figurehead is of Diana the huntress, which identifies the ship. Two other models of this ship are in the Museum collection.




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Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of the 'Diana'-class frigate (1794), a 38-gun fifth-rate, built in 'bread and butter' fashion and finished in the Georgian style. Model is partially decked, equipped, and mounted on its original pillar supports with a modern base. This model clearly illustrates the increasing use of bone and ivory in particular the carved decoration on the stern and the numerous fittings that were turned on a lathe such as the capstan head and deadeyes. This class of frigate were built from plans by Sir John Henslow, Surveyor of the Navy, 1784-1806, and had a gun deck of 146 feet by 39 feet in the beam and a tonnage of 984 (builders old measurement). Known as the 'eyes and ears’ of the fleet, the frigate was used for a variety of roles such as searching out and reporting on the enemy fleets and convoys, as well as independent patrols worldwide.



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Scale: 1:48. A design block model of the ‘Artois’, a 38-gun frigate, built by Wells of Rotherhithe in 1794. The model is scenic, and is represented on a slipway, with complete with its launching flags. It carries a plaque inscribed ‘Artois tons 996 Guns 38 Built 1794. On a launch. This model represents the mode of launching ships in HM Dockyards at the present time, and was accepted subsequent to 1795’. ‘Artois’ captured several French ships before being wrecked near La Rochelle in 1797. The model was displayed in the naval museum in Somerset House, open to the public in 1838.

 
I already mentioned in the beginning, that Jotika / Caldercraft has a very good POB 1:64 kit in their program

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A beautiful built example of this kit was built by our member @Peter Burton

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more photos you can find in the Gallery

 
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