The Royal Navy's 74-gun program accelerated after four French 74s were captured in 1747. Magnanime was surveyed at Plymouth and Monarque, Invincible, and Terrible at Portsmouth, adding fresh evidence to the earlier Princesa experiments. Sir Thomas Slade combined those surveys with the best British work when drawing the next generation. Shrewsbury, Norfolk, Dublin, Resolution, Mars, and Warspite were followed by Hero, Hercules, and Thunderer, identified here as the first purpose-designed 74s, while Culloden is treated separately. Several orders were changed from 70 to 74 guns as the new balance solidified. Britain moved from having no domestic 74s to nine orders in quick succession, showing how survey practice and dockyard capacity turned captured technology into procurement at scale.
Chapter · 31:33-33:20
Captured French 74s and Slade's ordering program
Surveys of four captured French 74s fed Sir Thomas Slade's designs and nine British orders in rapid succession.