Speaker-class frigate

The Speaker-class frigate was a type of English ship built early in the First Dutch War of 1652.

The English government of the day, after it recognised the usefulness of large ships, ordered 30 new frigates to be built (although only 20 were actually contracted for), of which nine were to be Third Rates of 52 guns each.

An early example of a large frigate, Speaker, launched in April 1650,[1] provided the prototype for the class.

Their introduction caused the Dutch navy, which was still reliant on the use of armed merchant ships, to become obsolete.

[4] The third rate frigates in the Speaker-class built as part of the 1652 programme were Plymouth, Torrington, Newbury, Bridgewater, Lyme, Marston Moor, Langport, Tredagh, and Gloucester.