1745 Establishment - End of An Era

End of An Era

In 1755 Joseph Allin retired from his post as Surveyor of the Navy on ill health. He had been joint Surveyor with Jacob Ackworth until Ackworth's death in 1749, and sole Surveyor thereafter. The Admiralty reacted swiftly and appointed Thomas Slade and William Bateley as the new joint Surveyors, and shortly thereafter two new 70-gun ships were ordered to be built to Slade's draught, which represented a significant increase in size over their predecessors—165 ft 6 in (50.4 m) as opposed to the 162 ft (49.4 m) of the 1754 amendments. Although nominally ordered as 70s, these new third rates were in fact the first of the Dublin-class 74s, and represented the end of the 70-gunner as a ship type on the navy lists. The era of crippling conservatism in British shipbuilding completed its slow death when Anson, by now the First Lord of the Admiralty, had the Navy Board reorganised with people who would support the Admiralty rather than fight with it, as had been the case previously.