Editing First-rate (section)

==Ships==
Due to their cost of construction and maintenance, only a small number of first rates could be built and maintained at any one time.<ref>{{harvnb|Winfield|2010}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2017}} Thus over the 250 years (approximately) that the [[rating system of the Royal Navy]] was used, only a relatively small number of these ships saw service.

Only one first rate has survived to the present. {{HMS|Victory}}, [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Admiral Nelson]]'s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, is preserved at [[HMNB Portsmouth]] and is in commission. The hull of the 102-gun {{HMS|St Lawrence|1814|6}}, which was built and operated entirely in fresh water during the [[War of 1812]], survives intact in shallow water near shore in [[Kingston, Ontario]], and is a popular diving attraction. Two other noted first rates were {{HMS|Royal Sovereign|1786|6}}, which was broken up in 1841, and {{HMS|Britannia|1762|6}}, which was broken up in 1825. Both these ships had 100 guns. Later first rates such as {{HMS|Caledonia|1808|6}} and [[Caledonia-class ship of the line|its several sisters]] had 120 guns.<ref>{{harvnb|Winfield|2014|p=8}}</ref> Other navies, notably those of France and Spain, also had similar ships with more than 100 guns, the most heavily armed being the [[Spanish ship Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad |''Santísima Trinidad'']] which, following a rebuilding in 1802, carried 140 guns.