Hard in Hampshire. It was stipulated that work should be completed within ten months for the 28-gun vessel measuring approximately 586tons burthen. Subject to satisfactory completion, Adams would receive a comparatively modest fee of £9.5s per ton to be paid through periodic imprests drawn against the Navy Board. As private shipyards were not subject to rigorous naval oversight, the Admiralty also granted authority for "such alterations withinboard as shall be judged necessary" in order to cater to the preferences or ability of individual shipwrights. After consultation with Admiralty, Adams took advantage of this freedom to make four substantive changes to the Tartar design. The ship's wheel was moved from behind the mizzen mast to before it to improve the helmsman's line of sight. The tiller was relocated, from an exposed position on the quarterdeck to a safer location belowdecks and near the stern. The vessel's hawseholes were relocated from the lower to the upper deck to allow additional storage space inside the hull. Finally, in recognition of the vessel's likely role in chasing small enemy craft, the leading pair of gunports were moved from the sides of the vessel to the bow in order to form a battery of chase guns. Levants keel was laid down in June 1757 but work proceeded slowly and the vessel was not ready for launch until July 1758. As built, Levant was long with a keel, a beam of , and a hold depth of . After Adams' modifications, she was of 595 tons burthen, nearly ten tons more than the figure specified in the contract. Her armament comprised 24 nine-pounder cannon located along her gun deck, supported by four three-pounder cannon on the quarterdeck and twelve -pounder swivel guns ranged along her sides. The Admiralty-designated complement was 200, comprising two commissioned officers a captain and a lieutenant overseeing 40 warrant and petty officers, 91 naval ratings, 38 Marines and 29 servants and other ranks. Among these other ranks were four positions reserved for widow's men fictitious crew members whose pay was intended to be reallocated to the families of sailors who died at sea. The vessel was named after the Levant, an area of the eastern Mediterranean. This continued a Board of Admiralty tradition, dating to 1644, of naming ships for geographic features. Overall, ten of the nineteen Coventry-class vessels, including Levant, were named after well-known regions, rivers or towns. With few exceptions