Captured French designs gave the Royal Navy material to study and adapt. Slade's Ardent class retained the Lis class's lower-deck battery of 24-pounders but replaced its 12-pounder upper deck with heavier 18-pounders. That change produced a broadside roughly fifty percent heavier on the upper deck. The result was a familiar 64-gun category with greater firepower and structural choices tailored to British requirements.
Notable Point · 23:02-26:35
From French Lis to Ardent firepower
The design comparison traces how a captured French 64 influenced the Ardent class and why its heavier upper-deck battery mattered.