The Lively class were a series of sixteen ships built to a 1799 design by Sir William Rule, which served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

[1] They were considered the most successful British frigate design of the period, much prized by the Navy Board; after the prototype was launched in 1804 (by which time four more frigates had already been ordered to the same design), a further eleven sister-ships were ordered to her design, although this was slightly modified (in 1805) to have the gangways between forecastle and quarterdeck more integrated into the upperworks, a step towards the final enclosure of the waist.

This was reinforced in 1809 by the abandonment of breastworks at the break of the quarterdeck and forecastle and in 1810 by the narrowing of the waist by the addition of gratings inboard of the gangways.

The vessels of the class were fast, recording 13kts large and 10-11kts close-hauled, weatherly and manoeuvrable.

Indeed, "riding light," after a substantial proportion of fresh water and provisions had been consumed, affected their sailing qualities adversely, so that most captains filled any emptied freshwater stowage capacity with seawater.