The Enterprise-class frigates were the final class of 28-gun sailing frigates of the sixth-rate to be produced for the Royal Navy. These twenty-seven vessels were designed in 1770 by John Williams. A first batch of five ships were ordered as part of the programme sparked by the Falklands Islands emergency. Two ships were built by contract in private shipyards, while three others were constructed in the Royal Dockyards using foreign oak. A second batch of fifteen ships were ordered in 1776 to 1778 to meet the exigencies of the North American situation, and a final group of seven ships followed in 1782 to 1783 with only some minor modifications to include side gangways running flush with the quarter deck and forecastle, and with solid bulkheads along the quarterdeck. Ships in class First batch Siren Ordered: 25 December 1770 Built by: John Henniker and Company, Chatham. Keel laid: April 1771 Launched: 2 November 1773 Completed: 5 October 1775 at Chatham Royal Dockyard. Fate: Grounded and abandoned under fire off Point Judith, Connecticut on 6 November 1777. Fox Ordered: 25 December 1770 Built by: Thomas Raymond, Northam (Southampton). Keel laid: May 1771 Launched: 2 September 1773 Completed: 12 February 1776 at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard. Fate: Captured by the French off Brest on 11 September 1778. Surprise Ordered: January 1771 Built by: Woolwich Royal Dockyard. Keel laid: 5 September 1771 Launched: 13 April 1774 Completed: 15 April 1775 Fate: Sold at Woolwich Dockyard on 24 April 1783. Enterprise Ordered: January 1771 Built by: Deptford Royal Dockyard. Keel laid: 9 September 1771 Launched: 24 August 1774 Completed: 20 June 1775 Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in August 1807. Actaeon Ordered: 5 November 1771 Built by: Woolwich Royal Dockyard. Keel laid: October 1772 Launched: 18 April 1775 Completed: 3 August 1775 Fate: Grounded off Fort Sullivan, South Carolina and burnt to avoid capture on 29 June 1776. Second batch Proserpine Ordered: 14 May 1776 Built by: John Barnard, Harwich. Keel laid: June 1776 Launched: 7 July 1777 Completed: 23 September 1777 at Sheerness Dockyard. Fate: Wrecked in the Elbe Estuary on 1 February 1799. Medea Ordered: 14 May 1776 Built by: James Martin Hillhouse, Bristol. Keel laid: June 1776 Launched: 28 April 1778 Completed: 15 September 1778 at Plymouth Dockyard. Fate: Fitted as hospital ship 1801. Sold 1805. Andromeda Ordered: 14 May 1776 Built by: Robert Fabian, East Cowes. Keel laid: July 1776