Ship of the Line SOL

Category	Sailing Ships
Class	warship
Builder	varies
Commissioned	varies
Owner	any

Ships of the Line are a class of war ships. These ships are often heavily armed and the pride of a nation's navy. Because of their high cost and long construction time, an empire will normally not have more than 3 or 4 1^st Rate ships, 8 to 12 2^nd Rate ships, and varying numbers of lesser ships of the line. Rate refers to the sub-class of ship, and based only on the number of guns she carries.

Class	Guns	Errata
1^st Rate	45 guns	battleships, three-deckers, main fleet flagships
2^nd Rate	40 guns	cruisers, three-deckers
3^rd Rate	26 guns	destroyers, two-deckers, the mainstay of battle fleets
4^th Rate	19 guns	see frigate
5^th Rate	9 guns	corvettes, which can also be rowed
6^th Rate	4 guns	pursuers, small auxiliary and courier vessels for the fleet