Three British Men-O-War Ships 1800’s. This is a round colored image of three British Man-of-War ships, probably from the early 1800’s. A Man-of-War (also called a Man-o’-War) was a powerful warship or frigate of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. They could be ships of the line - the main battle ships of a navy - which had three masts and their guns - cannons - arranged on three decks, which were called gun decks, and they could carry a crew of about 950 and 100 cannon. The largest ship in the foreground seems to have a British flag flying near the stern, and it’s hard to make out what flags are on the other ships. If this were a frigate, it would be a mid-sized Man-O’-War, with three masts, but it was noticeably smaller than a Ship of the Line. Typically, a frigate would have a full battery of guns on the gun deck and a light battery on the spar deck, but the number of guns varied generally between 40 and 56, with 30 to 40 guns being common. The round wooden frame measures 5 3/8 in. in diameter and the image is 3 3/8 in. in diameter, the frame is backed with a red velvety fabric, and the image is under glass. The wood appears to be in very good shape, with just a slight bit of rubbing on the right side of the frame. Overall size: 6 x 5 1/2 in. Image size: 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.