Talk:First-rate

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These should maybe be "first rate", without the hyphen. I don't know of a rule, noun vs adjective or whatever, but usage seems to lean more towards omitting the hyphen. Stan Shebs 18:38 Feb 22, 2003 (UTC)

The article claims the lowest deck was useless in all but the calmest weather. That would be true when attacking (from windward), but surely the lowest deck would often be usable when defending against a windward attacker because the heel of the ships would then be favourable? The article also claims that "first-rate" meaning "excellent" derives from "first-rate ship". Is that really so? Gdr 19:06, 2004 Aug 19 (UTC)

Ship bobs up and down, and likely needs to turn at various angles to the wind, plus the heel would only raise the gunports by a couple feet. It would be an exceedingly bold captain who would run the risk of being swamped, especially with the admiral glaring at him. Etymology of "first-rate" as adjective is attested by OED - in fact the first references in literature begin appearing within a couple decades of the introduction of the rating system. OED reports without attempting to explain, but one can imagine captains at parties and balls bragging or complaining about the rate of ship they got, and sharp-eared wits picking up on it, just as today's writers use computer slang for their own purposes. Stan 21:09, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] First paragraph is navigational aid

Please do not remove the first paragraph as it functions as a quick navigational aid to the other articles in this series. Thank you. Petersam 03:50, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Statistics

I have a source here (The Wooden World by N.A.M. Rodger) which says that (in the Georgian Navy at least), first rates carried 90 guns or more, had complements from 780 men and had tonnages from 1800 tons. However, I can see that the round figures are more dramatically powerful, and will understand if someone reverts my edits. --David.Mestel 14:06, 19 March 2006 (UTC)