Ordinary, guard ship, depot ship, and hulk in the sailing navy

What reserve levels did the Royal Navy use in the Age of Sail?

Ships could be in ordinary or serve as guard ships, depot ships, or hulks, with progressively different readiness and prospects for mobilization.

A ship in ordinary remained a clearer mobilization asset, while guard ships and depot ships performed peacetime functions with varying effects on readiness. Depot work could impose permanent alterations even when it kept a hull useful. Hulks were generally the least suitable for return to distant service because age and conversion had reduced their seaworthiness. The categories therefore describe both employment and the practical cost of reactivation.