Seringapatam's design was based on the French frigate Président, which the British had captured in 1806.

Seringapatam was originally ordered as a 38-gun frigate, but the re-classification of British warships which took effect in February 1817 raised this rating to 46-gun.

The Admiralty ordered six further ships to this design – including three ships which had originally been ordered as Leda-class frigates, but the Seringapatam design was subsequently altered to produce a Modified version which was labelled the Druid sub-class, and three of the ships formerly ordered to the Seringapatam original design (Madagascar, Nemesis and Jason) were re-ordered to this modified design.

Further vessels were ordered to both modified designs, but the majority of these were subsequently cancelled.

The remaining ships ordered or re-ordered to this design were never completed: