1647 Programme Group
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | 1647 Programme (Group of English warships) |
| Builders | |
| Operators |
|
| Preceded by | 1646 Programme |
| Succeeded by | 1649 Programme |
| Built | 1647 |
| In service | 1647 - 1709 |
| Completed | 4 |
| Lost | 2 |
| Retired | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | 32 to 34-gun Fourth rate |
| Tons burthen | 370 tons bm (design) |
| Sail plan | ship-rigged |
| Complement | 150 in 1652, 160 in 1653 |
| Armament | 32 to 34 guns initially, later up to 42 guns |
The 1647 Programme of four additional Fourth rate vessels for the English Navy Royal was approved by Parliament on 9 January 1647, following a recommendation on 31 December 1646 by the Admiralty Committee that four new frigates should be built, each to be of 370 tons and to carry 32 guns. Like the three vessels built in the previous year under the 1646 Programme, each vessel would have eleven pairs of gunports on its sole gundeck, with further ports on the quarterdeck above. While nominally built for the Kingdom of England, and thus nominally the property of the Stuart King, their construction during the English Civil War was actually ordered by the Parliamentary side, and with the execution of King Charles I in January 1649 these ships (and preceding vessels) passed under the control of the new Commonwealth of England, and remained as such until the Stuart Restoration in 1660.