By the end of the sailing era, the 50-gun ship had come to be regarded as a hybrid - too small to stand in the line of battle, but lacking the speed and handiness of the frigate - so was often dismissed as a naval architectural dinosaur left over from an earlier age. This prejudiced view has gone unchallenged in modern naval history, but this new book reveals the crucial role of the 50-gun ship in the development of both the battleship and the frigate, and explains the enduring role which ensured the survival of the type into the nineteenth century. True to the intentions of the "ShipShape" series, it is the first extended study of a type which is both technically interesting and historically undervalued. Charting its origins in the pre-Commonwealth 'frigates', the author follows the development of the type in the eighteenth century and its gradual transition from battlefleet to heavy cruiser role, highlighting its revival for the special conditions of colonial warfare during the American Revolution. Thereafter, they were employed as peacetime flagships for distant stations, but achieved a final glory leading small craft in anti-invasion operations during the Napoleonic War. Features include: an in-depth text, based on the latest research in original sources, covering the complete history of the 50-gun ship; numerous tables of technical data covering dimensions, construction, armament and details; comprehensive collection of illustrations including original draughts, models and contemporary paintings and drawings; a selection of specially commissioned perspective and cutaway drawings by John McKay; a separate set of large scale plans for modelmakers; these and the cutaway depict the Leopard of 1790, famous in history for her assault on USS Chesapeake and as well known in fiction as the 'horrible old Leopard' of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey novels.