British Fifth Rate frigate 'Lively' (1794)

Three Decks' Forum

Come and ask, answer or inform.

Recent updates

Update
Pedro de Linze y BerasteguiSpanish
Ship Owner
Service 1754-1769
Update
Galga (36) 1744-1784
Spanish 36 Gun
Privateer Frigate
Added
Lorenzo BeyenisSpanish
Ship Owner
Service 1769
Update
Juan Agustin de IradySpanish
Naval Sailor
Update
Guipuzcoano (64) 1778-1780
Spanish 64 Gun
Merchant Ship of the Line
Update
San Rafael (30) 1774-1780
Spanish 30 Gun
Merchant Frigate
Update
Luis ArburuSpanish
Naval Sailor
Update
Fermín UrtizbereaSpanish
Naval Sailor
Service 1780
Update
San Carlos (32) 1772-1780
Spanish 32 Gun
Merchant Frigate
Added
San Ignacio de Loyola (50) 1766-1779
Spanish 50 Gun
Merchant Ship
See more...

Recent Comments

Brave (12) 1798-1799
British 12 Gun
Hired Cutter
(1798)
Earl of Mornington (14) 1799-1804
British 14 Gun
Merchant Packet
(1799)
Concorde (36) 1783-1811
British 36 Gun
5th Rate Frigate
(1783)
Rambler (14) 1796-1810
British 14 Gun
Unrated Cutter
(1796)
Impregnable (98) 1786-1799
British 98 Gun
2nd Rate Ship of the Line
(1786)
Earl of Wycombe (Unknown) 1786-1800
British Unknown Gun
Merchant East Indiaman
(1786)
Belvedere (Unknown) 1787-1805
British Unknown Gun
Merchant East Indiaman
(1787)
Taunton Castle (Unknown) 1790-1812
British Unknown Gun
Merchant East Indiaman
(1790)
Carnatic (26) 1787-1802
British 26 Gun
Merchant East Indiaman
(1787)
Loyalist (Unknown) 1796-1803
British Unknown Gun
Merchant East Indiaman
(1796)
See more...

Lively
Nominal Guns	32	BWAS-1793
Nationality	Great Britain
Operator	Royal Navy
Ordered	14.2.1793	BWAS-1793
Keel Laid Down	4.1793	BWAS-1793
Launched	23.10.1794	BWAS-1793
How acquired	Built by Contract	BWAS-1793
Shipyard	Northam - Devon	BWAS-1793
Ship Class	Alcmene - Improved Pallas Class (1793)	BWAS-1793
Designed by	Sir John HenslowBritish Designer Ship Builder Dockyard Staff Service 1761-1805	BWAS-1793
Constructor	John NowlanBritish Ship Builder	BWAS-1793
Category	Fifth Rate	BWAS-1793
Ship Type	Frigate	BWAS-1793
Sailing Rig	Ship Rigged	BWAS-1793
Burnt to avoid capture	14.4.1798	BWAS-1793

Dimensions

DimensionMeasurementTypeMetric EquivalentBWAS-1793
Length of Gundeck135' 3"Imperial Feet41.1502
Length of Keel112' 5 ¼"Imperial Feet34.144
Breadth36' 8 ½"Imperial Feet10.9855
Depth in Hold12' 6"Imperial Feet3.7338
Draught Forward9' 11"Imperial Feet2.7686
Draught Aft14' 0"Imperial Feet4.2672
Burthen805 ⁸⁵⁄₉₄Tons BM

Armament

23.10.1794Broadside Weight = 324 Imperial Pound ( 146.934 kg)BWAS-1793
Upper Gun Deck26 British 18-Pounder
Quarterdeck4 British 24-Pound Carronade
Quarterdeck4 British 6-Pounder
Forecastle2 British 24-Pound Carronade
Forecastle2 British 6-Pounder

Crew Complement

Date# of MenNotesSource
1793241Design Complement

5 Ship Commanders

DatesRankNameSource
10.1794 - 1795CaptainBWAS-17931795 - 1.3.1795CommanderBWAS-17934.1795 - 1796CaptainBWAS-17931797 - 1798CaptainBWAS-17931798 - 13.4.1798CaptainBWAS-1793

1 Commissioned Officer

DatesRankNameSource
1795Third LieutenantN-GAZ

3 Petty Officers

DatesRatingNameSource
28.12.1794 - 15.10.1795MidshipmanNAO1795MidshipmanADM 171/88.1797 - 14.4.1798MidshipmanNBD1849

2 Crewmen

DatesRatingNameSource
1795VolunteerADM 171/817953rd Class BoyADM 171/8

1 Marine

DatesRankNameSource
1795Lieutenant of Marinesref:929

Service History

DateEventSource
26.10.1794Began fitting at Chatham Dockyard - Chatham BWAS-1793
2.1.1795Completed fitting at Chatham Dockyard - Chatham BWAS-1793
3.3.1795Took the Corvette off Brest
13.3.1795Lively vs Tourterelle
13.3.1795Took the Frigate off Ushant
11.11.1795Sailed for the MediterraneanBWAS-1793
14.2.17972nd Battle of Cape St Vincent
29.5.1797Took the Sloop cut out by boats at Santa Cruz
13.4.1798Grounded at Rota Point, near CadizBWAS-1793

Sources

IDNameAuthorType

ADM 171/8British Admiralty, Document

BWAS-1793Rif Winfield, Book

N-GAZJ. W. Norie, Book

NAOVarious, Web Site

NBD1849O'Brien, Digital Book

ref:929Paul Harris Nicolas, Book

Previous comments on this page

Posted by Jon Miller on Sunday 19th of July 2026 06:36

Prize Money: Thalia, Lively, and Alcmene – July 3d, at the Lamb, Lamb’s Conduit-street, for the re-capture of the Portuguese schooner the Flor de Mondego, Feb 7, 1798. Recall at the same place. [Portsmouth Telegraph 29 June 1801]

NB Lively was built at Northam, Hampshire - not the Devon Northam

Posted by Jon Miller on Sunday 19th of July 2026 06:33

Posted by Chris Webster on Friday 18th of October 2024 13:13

National archives reference ADM 48/54/167 Will of Robert Lesby Masters Mate of HMS Lively 27th August 1797 witnessed by Captain Hollowell and Boatswain Jacob Hall. Thanks very much for all the other information on the Three Decks Forum. Believe Robert Lesby was an ancestor of mine.

Posted by Paul Fields on Friday 14th of July 2017 21:56

The Alcmene class also included HMS Galatea 1794, built in Bursledon. Source Robert Gardner's The Heavy Frigate.

Make a comment about this page

Recent comments to other pages

Date posted	By	Page
Saturday 25th of July 2026 17:30	Paul Howard	British hired cutter 'Brave' (1798) (12) 1798-1799 British 12 Gun Hired Cutter
Saturday 25th of July 2026 16:05	Jon Miller	British Merchant packet 'Earl of Mornington' (1799) (14) 1799-1804 British 14 Gun Merchant Packet
Saturday 25th of July 2026 15:59	Jon Miller	British Fifth Rate frigate 'Concorde' (1783) (36) 1783-1811 British 36 Gun 5th Rate Frigate
Saturday 25th of July 2026 15:58	Jon Miller	British cutter 'Rambler' (1796) (14) 1796-1810 British 14 Gun Unrated Cutter
Saturday 25th of July 2026 14:03	Jon Miller	British Second Rate ship of the line 'Impregnable' (1786) (98) 1786-1799 British 98 Gun 2nd Rate Ship of the Line

GDPR Statement