The sloop of war

This is the first study in depth of the Royal Navy's vital, but largely ignored small craft. In the age of sail they were built in huge numbers and in far greater variety than the more regulated major warships, so they present a particular challenge to any historian attempting a coherent design history. However, for the first time this book charts the development of the ancillary types, variously described in the 17th century as sloops, ketches, brigantines, advice boats and even yachts, as they coalesce into the single 18th-century category of Sloop of War. In this era they were generally two.

Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; Abbreviations; Introduction and Definition; Chapter 1: The Rigging of Sloops; Chapter 2: The Fishing Boat Legacy; Chapter 3: The Sea-Wars Between England, Holland, France and Spain 1651-1678; Chapter 4: The Small Warships of the Commonwealth and the Restoration Navies 1651-1688; Chapter 5: The Wars Against France 1688-1714; Chapter 6: Ketches, Brigantines, Advice Boats and Sloops, 1689-1702; Chapter 7: Early Small Sixth Rates and the Development of Fore-and-Aft Rig and Oared Propulsion; Chapter 8: The Bomb Vessel and Fireship 1683-1712.

Chapter 9: The First Sloops of War 1704-1719Chapter 10: The Barque Longue and Early Corvette 1671-1714; Chapter 11: The Hanoverian Succession and the Wars for Trade and Empire 1714-1763; Chapter 12: The 'Peacetime' Sloops 1714-1728; Chapter 13: Towards a Specification 1728-1740; Chapter 14: A Multi-Role Class 1728-1749; Chapter 15: French Corvette and Privateer Construction 1734-1763; Chapter 16: The Last of the Snow- and Ketch-Rigged Cruising and Bomb Sloops 1749-1761; Chapter 17: Ship Rig and Long Quarterdeck 1741-1763; Chapter 18: Conclusion; Notes.

Appendix 1: Alphabetical List of Purpose-Built and…