Warship (sail)

While the first warships were powered by oars, sail power, using wind, dominated naval warfare until the early 19th century.

There was no single metric of combat efficiency. A smaller but faster ship might be a valuable scout, as long as it was faster than ships with more powerful guns. If there was a single metric, it was pure number of guns, not gun type or caliber. A ship might be described as USS Constitution (44), indicating 44 guns of all types, although some specifications omitted the lightest guns and short-ranged weapons such as carronades.

A much more formal system was principally used by the Royal Navy.

Type	Rate	Guns	Gun decks
Ship of the line	1st Rate	100+	3
	2nd Rate	90-98	3
	3rd Rate	64-80	2
Frigate (sail)	4th Rate	50-60	2
	5th Rate	32-40	1
	6th Rate	20-28	1
Sloop-of-war		16-20	1
Gun brig or cutter		6-14	1