A number of Merchant ships in the Thames have been identified as suitable for service as Men of War. The Board is instructed to negotiate with their owners for terms on which they may be hired as Fourth and Fifth Rates; and to report on the number of men required to man them together with the number and nature of the guns required to arm them. Surveys are required of two of the ships, the SUPPLY and the JOSEPH, which are not to be hired unless found suitable. The ships are named in the margin of the letter with three identified as Fourth Rates and nine - including the SUPPLY and JOSEPH - as Fifth Rates.