Royal Navy Ship Rating System

Timeline

1. 1660–1665London · LondonAfter Charles II's restoration, the Royal Navy's administrative system was rebuilt; the Navy Board began classifying fleet ships by tonnage and firepower, laying the framework for the later formal rating system, and accelerated reforms on the eve of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
2. 1665–1667Southern English naval ports · EnglandDuring the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the practical experience of assigning ships of the line and cruisers by firepower rating exposed inconsistent classification standards, prompting the Admiralty to push for a unified rating scheme centered on gun count after the war.
3. 1677–1688Admiralty, London · LondonIn 1677, Secretary to the Admiralty Samuel Pepys promulgated a six-rate classification standard based on the number of guns carried, defining Rates 1–3 as ships of the line and Rates 4–6 as frigates, which became the cornerstone of Royal Navy organization for the next two centuries.