So how much did a frigate cost in 1780?

[ExFishermanBob]

And that's a difference - the poor old Unicorn is massively underfunded and busy rotting away, whereas the USS constitution looks in great condition.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by ExFishermanBob

And that's a difference - the poor old Unicorn is massively underfunded and busy rotting away, whereas the USS constitution looks in great condition.

Interesting! HMS Unicorn was never rigged she was laid up "in ordinary", serving as a hulk and a depot ship for most of the next 140 years. Her lack of active duty left her timbers well preserved as opposed to her near sister ship HMS Trincomalee built in Bombay of teak instead of scarce oakalso a museum ship at Hartlepool The Trincomalee holds the distinction of being the oldest British warship still afloat. HMS Victory is 52 years older but is in drydock. All three are having a better day than Cutty Sark (restored) which burned a few years back! Cutty Sark ablaze.

[NeonSamurai]

The thing though, is that replica ships will cost far more than the period in which the original ships were originally made. People don't build ships like this any more, so the people with the skill set to do it are rare, shipyards are not optimized for building ships like this, and labor costs would be a lot higher (as now it is specialists that build these ships, and they cost a lot more then the shipwrights from the time period). Build times I would also expect to be longer, especially if using traditional methods, because fewer people would be working on building the ship (again as not many people would have the skills needed).

[August]

Originally Posted by NeonSamurai

The thing though, is that replica ships will cost far more than the period in which the original ships were originally made. People don't build ships like this any more, so the people with the skill set to do it are rare, shipyards are not optimized for building ships like this, and labor costs would be a lot higher (as now it is specialists that build these ships, and they cost a lot more then the shipwrights from the time period). Build times I would also expect to be longer, especially if using traditional methods, because fewer people would be working on building the ship (again as not many people would have the skills needed).

Right and that's not counting modern systems and conveniences they might add like engines, electronic equipment safety gear and the like.

[em2nought]

I'm a fan of USS Constitution as it seemed overbuilt, which is something I can't usually help but try to do. It's a German thing. lol $300,000 seems a deal, oh for the days before the military industrial complex and airplanes without guns(cause that worked really well in Vietnam) Shhh, treason talk. LMAO

Poor Unicorn looks like a prison ship.

[ExFishermanBob]

Originally Posted by em2nought

I'm a fan of USS Constitution as it seemed overbuilt, which is something I can't usually help but try to do. It's a German thing. lol $300,000 seems a deal, oh for the days before the military industrial complex and airplanes without guns(cause that worked really well in Vietnam) Shhh, treason talk. LMAO

Poor Unicorn looks like a prison ship.

Hah! You can (or could) book it for meetings and weddings and so on. In the same dock is the North Carr Lightship (also needing money)
http://www.northcarr-lightship.org/

..and just along the river, the Discovery, of Scott of the Antarctic fame
http://www.rrsdiscovery.com/index.php?pageID=129

Blimey, I sound like a tour guide for Dundee.

One thing they have NOT got, is a submarine. There's a memorial but nothing else (and even that is a bit hard to find).

http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/ind...ets/HMSAmbrose

U2326 surrendered in Dundee and some of the officers were taken aboard the Unicorn.

[Longknife]

Originally Posted by NeonSamurai

The thing though, is that replica ships will cost far more than the period in which the original ships were originally made. People don't build ships like this any more...

Another issue is the disparity in wages of that time to ours. Not the inflated value of currency but the real value of time. The men of that age didn't have the house, the car & the wife that they couldn't afford like we do.

Its one of the main reasons projects like say the Golden Gate Bridge could not be made again.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by ExFishermanBob

And that's a difference - the poor old Unicorn is massively underfunded and busy rotting away, whereas the USS constitution looks in great condition.

Aye, it'll be nice if she can get the funding needed for proper restoration, to something like this: