Something I have never quite been sure of, and to which have never yet found a definitive answer is: Do chasers count when considering a ship’s rating, or do only the guns of the broad side matter? The best I can figure is that it’s more of a case-to-case basis, some ships being rounded up to even numbers while others are left in lesser classes for the slight advantage they may gain by the omission. I wonder if the community here can offer some insight, particularly as my immediate interest pertains to a MOC I hope to reveal very soon.

You could take a look here and scroll down to The number of guns and the rate.

It is indeed not very clear which guns were rated and which were not.

I think you could count the chaser when you consider it the standard armament.

But I think in most occasions, it would be a captain's personal choice to add a chaser and therefore it wouldn't be counted.

And also, a ships number of guns is always counted in even numbers (as far as I know), and 1 bowchaser (like on USS Constitution) would make it uneven.

like the Wikipedia page says, ships were rated with a certain amount of guns when they were commissioned. Once they were in service, however, the captains could change the armament as their mission required. So a ship could be rated as a 28-gun frigate, but could have 30, or 32 guns if the captain wanted them.

I would have to say a ship's gun rating depends on how many guns it started out with. So if a Frigate started with 32 guns, but the captain added so it became 35, it would still be a 32 gun ship, but would have extra guns.

As for the addition of guns after commission, at the discretion of a given ship’s commander, that point I take. If for nothing but my own pride I’ll assure all that I was well aware of the practice on my own. In my particular case, I am wondering (without giving too much away) if the chasers, intended to be an integral part of the vessel’s design from the very beginning, would affect the rating. As for the wiki article, I had it booked marked as a quick reference but find it tolerably vague on my matter. I would very much like to count my vessel in the higher rate but to do so would require the consideration of two bow chasers in the calculation. Without the guns in question, she’ll come up two guns short. To most, it’s no great matter, but with my personal insistence upon historical accuracy I’d hate to look the fool for such an error; particularly so, if it were only to serve my own pride and ambition. I find I might be just as happy with a consensus, if there is no better reference to be offered. After all, I am necessarily commander-in-chief of my own fantasy, and if I deem a ship with no guns at all to be of the first rate, who’s to argue? For consideration, here is a “teaser” of the vessel in question.

Edited September 9, 201113 yr by kurigan

Here is something I found in the Wikipedia article,

The rated number of guns often differed from the number a vessel actually carried. The guns that determined a ship's rating were the carriage-mounted cannon, long-barreled, muzzle-loading guns that moved on 'trucks' — wooden wheels. The count did not include smaller (and basically anti-personnel) weapons such as swivel-mounted guns ("swivels"), which fired half-pound projectiles, or small arms.

So in effect, the chasers would be carriage mounted, therefore they would be counted for a ship's gun rating.

So in effect, the chasers would be carriage mounted, therefore they would be counted for a ship's gun rating.

good point.

These Ratings were always hard for me to understand

Edited September 19, 201113 yr by Tiberix

Only the broadside guns are counted as these where the ones that mattered in the line of battle.

If youre into accuracy, you might find the book "Historic Ship Models" by Wolfram zu Mondfeld and The Rigging of Ships in the days of the Spritsail Topmast 1600-1720 by R. C. Anderson interesting. Or The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War by Peter Goodwin.

That is if, youre into ships of the classical pirate era and don´t want to settle on any specific nation, as each nations ships varied here and there from decade to decade.

Take the classical steering wheel, which was first introduced by the english in 1695 but wasnt common in other nations ships until around 1740, some 45 years later.

Ofcourse with LEGO the scale determines the level of accuracy...if you want accuracy that is.

Only the broadside guns are counted as these where the ones that mattered in the line of battle.

If youre into accuracy, you might find the book "Historic Ship Models" by Wolfram zu Mondfeld and The Rigging of Ships in the days of the Spritsail Topmast 1600-1720 by R. C. Anderson interesting. Or The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War by Peter Goodwin.

That is if, youre into ships of the classical pirate era and don´t want to settle on any specific nation, as each nations ships varied here and there from decade to decade.

Take the classical steering wheel, which was first introduced by the english in 1695 but wasnt common in other nations ships until around 1740, some 45 years later.

Ofcourse with LEGO the scale determines the level of accuracy...if you want accuracy that is.

I'm really impressed . SearchFunction is absolutly right on the point of broadside-relevant guns.

I thank you for your input SearchFunction, however, I find myself distracted by “if you want accuracy that is”. What’s that about? I did clearly state in the original post, that I strive for accuracy and a quick perusing of my posts and topics would reveal a trend to much the same effect.

“Only the broadside guns are counted as these where the ones that mattered in the line of battle.” Seems to hold up as a general rule, until you start rating vessels that were never intended to take part in line of battle; frigates of the Fifth and Sixth rate for instance. By then end of the 18th century, the rating system had been dramatically altered to include such vessels. More to the point, even with changes it doesn’t seem to me that the rule in question was ever quite clearly stated, nor that anyone at the time particularly cared. From my point of view it appears that the rules were bent and broken regularly, for any number of reasons, further complicating the matter. I am in fact quite settled on a British vessels of the late 18th century. I’ll even go so far as to reveal that the vessel in question carries a 9 gun broad side, with two bow chasers and three masts, square rigged. It is my ambition to rate her as a post ship, thereby giving my wholly fictious commander his step to post captain. I do not wish to be seen as a hypocrite, however; so if a sloop she must be than a sloop she’ll be. The only judges I feel I should be concerned with are myself, of course, and the community here, who will be my primary (if not exclusive) audience. This is all for pure fancy though and holds no significance beyond the amusement of my peers and myself. If the presentation fails, the model will still stand out for the pain staking triumph I’m confident she will be. Keep in mind I am working from a very limited stock of bricks and am therefore bound, not by what I should do, but by what I can pull off.

Perhaps I should alter the phrasing of my question from “what should I do” to “would any one object?”