Ajax-class ship of the line

The Ajax-class ships of the line were a class of two 74-gun third rates of the Royal Navy. They were grouped in with the large class of 74s, as they carried 24-pounders on their upper gun decks, rather than the 18-pounders of the middling and common class 74s. The design of the Ajax class was a lengthened (by 11 ft) version of the Valiant-class ship of the line, the lines of which were taken from the French HMS Invincible (1747), captured in 1747.

Ships

 * HMS Kent (1798)
 * Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
 * Ordered: 10 June 1795
 * Launched: 17 January 1798
 * Fate: Broken up, 1881


 * HMS Ajax (1798)
 * Builder: Randall, Rotherhithe
 * Ordered: 10 June 1795
 * Launched: 3 March 1798
 * Fate: Accidentally burnt, 1807