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In the Royal Navy, a 'fifth-rate' was a sailing frigate mounting 32 to 44 guns with the main battery on a single deck.
Fifth-rate ships acted as fast scouts or independent cruisers and included a variety of gun arrangements from 32 or 36 x 12 pounders to 36, 38, 40 or even 44 x 18 pound guns. Tonnage ranged from 700 to 1450 tons, with crews of 215 to 294 men.
To be posted aboard a Fifth-rate ship was considered an attractive assignment. Fifth raters were often assigned to interdict enemy shipping - meaning the prospect of prize money for the crew.
Fifth rate frigates were considered useful for their combination of manoeuvrability and firepower, which, in theory, would allow them to outmanoeuvre an enemy of greater force and run down one of lesser force. It was for this reason that frigates of this sort were commonly used in patrol and to disrupt enemy shipping lanes much as battlecruisers would later in history.