HMS Leda (1828)

The Druid sub-class was an enlarged and improved version of the Serinapatam design, modified with a circular stern.[1] Leda had a length at the gundeck of 159 feet (48.5 m) and 133 feet 5 inches (40.7 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 41 feet 2 inches (12.5 m), a draught of 15 feet (4.6 m) and a depth of hold of 12 feet 9 inches (3.9 m). The ship's tonnage was 1171 ​³⁸⁄₉₄ tons burthen.[2] The Druid sub-class was armed with twenty-eight 18-pounder cannon on her gundeck, fourteen 32-pounder carronades on her quarterdeck and a pair of 9-pounder cannon and two more 32-pounder carronades in the forecastle. The ships had a crew of 315 officers and ratings.[3]

Leda, the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,[4] was ordered on 15 May 1821, laid down in October 1824 at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales, and launched on 15 April 1828.[3] She was completed for ordinary at Plymouth Dockyard in May 1828 and the ship was roofed over from the mainmast forward.[2]

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Phillips, Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander (2014). Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5214-9.
• Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1817-1863. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-47383-743-0.
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6.