HMS Liverpool was a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1758, she saw active service in the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. She was wrecked in Jamaica Bay, near New York, in 1778.
Construction
Liverpool was an oak-built 28-gun sixth-rate, one of 18 vessels forming part of the Coventry class of frigates. As with others in her class she was loosely modeled on the design and external dimensions of , launched in 1756 and responsible for capturing five French privateers in her first twelve months at sea. The Admiralty Order to build the Coventry-class vessels was made after the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, and at a time in which the Royal Dockyards were fully engaged in constructing or fitting-out the Navy's ships of the line. Consequently, despite Navy Board misgivings about reliability and cost, contracts for all but one of Coventry-class vessels were issued to private shipyards with an emphasis on rapid completion of the task.
Contracts for Liverpools construction were issued on 3 September 1756 to commercial shipwrights John Gorill and William Pownall. As Gorill and Pownall's shipyard was in the city of Liverpool, Admiralty determined that this would also be the name of the vessel herself. It was stipulated that work should be completed within eleven months for a 28-gun vessel measuring approximately 590tons burthen. Subject to satisfactory completion, Gorill and Pownall would receive a modest fee of £8.7s per ton the lowest for any Coventry-class vessel to be paid through periodic imprests drawn against the Navy Board.
In sailing qualities Liverpool was broadly comparable with French frigates of equivalent size, but with a shorter and sturdier hull and greater weight in her broadside guns. She was also comparatively broad-beamed which provided ample space for provisions, the ship's mess and a large magazine for powder and round shot. Taken together, these characteristics would enable Liverpool to remain at sea for long periods without resupply. She was also built with broad and heavy masts, which balanced the weight of her hull, improved stability in rough weather and made her capable of carrying a greater quantity of sail. The disadvantages of this comparatively heavy design were a decline in manoeuvrability and slower speed when sailing in light winds.
Her designated complement was 200, comprising two commissioned officers a captain and a lieutenant overseeing 40 warrant and petty officers, 91 naval ratings, 38 Marines and 29 servants and other ranks.