The Coventry-class frigates were 28-gun sixth rate frigates of the Royal Navy, principally in service during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. They were designed in 1756 by Britain's Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Thomas Slade, and were largely modeled on HMS Tartar, which was regarded as an exemplar among small frigates due to its speed and maneuverability. The 1750s were a period of considerable experimentation in ship design, and Slade authorized individual builders to make "such alterations withinboard as may be judged necessary" in final construction.
The Coventry-class frigate HMS Liverpool
Sir Thomas Slade was an English naval architect best known for designing the Royal Navy warship HMS Victory, which served as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
A portrait of Slade
Battle of Quiberon Bay: the Day After (Richard Wright, 1760). The Dublin-class HMS Resolution is on her starboard side in the foreground
HMS Asia in Halifax Harbour, 1795. Watercolour by George Gustavus Lennock, a lieutenant aboard Asia.
HMS Victory in Portsmouth Harbour with a coal ship alongside, 1828. Etching by Edward William Cooke based on his own drawing.