title: Mars-class ship of the line
text: # Mars-class ship of the line
  
  The Mars-class ships of the line were a class of two 74-gun third rates of the large class ships of the line, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir John Henslow.
  
  The two ships of the Mars class were the first large 74s since the Valiant class of 1759, carrying the heavier armament of 24 pdrs on their upper decks, as opposed to the 18 pdrs of the middling and common classes.
  
  ## Ships
  
  * HMS Mars
  
      Builder: Deptford Dockyard
      Ordered: 17 January 1788
      Launched: 25 October 1794
      Fate: Broken up, 1823
  * HMS Centaur
  
      Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
      Ordered: 17 January 1788
      Launched: 14 March 1797
      Fate: Broken up, 1819
  