Second rates for the early US Navy

The early US Navy's intended mission may have suited second rates better than expensive first rates, especially for a heavily armed defensive fleet. A group of three-decked second rates would have forced the Royal Navy to answer with its own heavy ships or many more third rates. By concentrating on first rates, Congress set a standard that was harder to finance, build, crew, and place in service. Political preference for ordering the very best made the intermediate type difficult to choose. A concrete-wall analogy casts third rates as the mass, first rates as the principal beams and footings, and second rates as the rebar tying the fleet together.