Editing First-rate (section)

==Rating==
[[File:Loss of the Royal George, at Spithead (1871).jpg|thumb|The first-rate ''[[HMS_Royal_George_(1756)|Royal George]]'' sank at anchor in 1782 after she was flooded through her lower gunports.]]
Early first rates had as few as 60 guns, but by the mid-1660s they generally carried between 90 and 100 guns. By the early years of the 18th century, it had become accepted that 100 guns was the standard criterion for a first rate in wartime (while 90 guns, later 98 guns, became the standard wartime ordnance for a [[Second-rate|second rate]]). (In peacetime, all ships of the line carried a reduced complement of guns.) Towards the close of the century, ships were built with more than 100 guns, and they too were classed as first rates.

In addition to the rated number of carriage-mounted guns (which included the heaviest calibre available mounted on their lower decks, with smaller guns on the decks above), first rates also carried a number of anti-personnel guns, initially swivel-mounted weapons. From the invention of the slide-mounted [[carronade]] in the later 1770s, first rates (like other warships), could mount a number of these weapons on their quarterdecks and forecastles to augment their short-range firepower, but they were not included in the ship's rating until 1817 except where they replaced carriage-mounted guns.

Although very powerful, the Navy's first-rates were of limited utility at sea. For stability their lowest gundeck had to be very close to the waterline and its gunports could not be opened in anything but the calmest of seas. To do otherwise was to risk swamping the entire vessel, as occurred in 1782 when the first-rate {{HMS|Royal George|1756|2}} sank at anchor at [[Spithead]] after the lower gunports were opened to air the ship.<ref>{{harvnb|Winfield|2007|p=5}}</ref> Early first-rates had little storage space to stow provisions for their large crews on long voyages, and the ships themselves routinely proved unseaworthy in winter weather; as a consequence the first-rates were restricted to summer cruising, and then only in the English Channel and nearby waters.<ref>{{harvnb|Winfield|2009|p=xii}}</ref>  By the mid-1700s, however, improved design had removed these limitations.

Ships of this size were extremely expensive to operate. As a result, the few first rates (the Royal Navy had only five completed in 1794) were typically reserved as commanding [[admiral]]s' [[flagship]]s. First rates were typically kept out of commission ("[[Reserve fleet|in Ordinary]]") during peacetime and only activated ("commissioned") during times of conflict. This had the added advantage of preserving them from the wear and tear that smaller ships experienced in spending long periods at sea. Spending time in Ordinary could considerably extend a first rate's lifespan; for instance, by the time she fought in the [[Battle of Trafalgar]], {{HMS|Victory}} had been in service for 40 years, although a portion of this time was spent in Ordinary.

With first rates being the most powerful ships of the navy, it was common to compare them with the navies of other nations; frequently one sees the largest ships of those navies being referred to as first rates. Other nations had their own rating systems, notably the French Navy with its system of five formal rates or ''rangs''.