The proof is in the plans: foreign influence on British frigate design

Throughout the 18^th century, the European navies developed and advanced their warships. This often happened with inspiration from other navies, and the methods of acquiring foreign shipbuilding knowledge were many: some navies hired foreign shipbuilders or constructors, other preferred to visit foreign dockyards and study shipbuilding and the warships there. Britain, however, harvested their foreign inspiration almost exclusively from studying war prizes. In this talk, Ida Christine Standish will share digital 3D models, created from original 18th-century ship plans, to shine a new light on the foreign influences on British frigate design. 

How did French war prizes influence 18th-century British frigate design? How did politics in the shipbuilding administration lead to changes in naval designs and shipbuilding methods?

About the speaker: Ida Christine Standish

Ida is a Danish naval historian based in Southampton. She has a masters degree in History from the University of Copenhagen and in Maritime Archaeology from the University of Southern Denmark. Her PhD at the University of Portsmouth studied foreign shipbuilding knowledge transfer between European navies in the 18th century. During her recent Caird Fellowship at Royal Museums Greenwich, Ida used modern technology and AI to analyse and communicate the history of eighteenth-century warships.

Header image: Ship plan, Gibraltar 1754 (ZAZ3974) © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.