The Dublin-class ships of the line were a class of seven 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.

The Dublin-class ships were the first 74-gun ships to be designed for the Royal Navy, and marked the beginning of a more dynamic era of naval design than that in the ultra-conservative Establishment era preceding it.

Slade's draught was approved on 26 August 1755 when the first two orders were transmitted to Deptford Dockyard.

The design was some 4½ feet longer than the preceding 70-gun ships of the 1745 Establishment, with the extra length making provision for an additional (14th) pair of 32-pounder guns on the lower deck compared with the 13 pairs of the 70-gun ships.

They were nominally ordered as 70-gun ships (although always designed to carry 74), but redesignated as 74-gun during construction.