Major rebuilds could keep a 74 in service for decades

What was the average service life of a 74-gun ship of the line?

With major rebuilds, a 74 could remain in service for about sixty years.

The brief answer gives a useful caution about treating a ship's launch date as the age of an unchanged artifact. With major rebuilds, a 74 could remain in service for around six decades, reflecting the scale of dockyard renewal possible in a wooden fleet. Longevity therefore depended on maintenance policy as much as original construction.