| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Bonetta group |
| Succeeded by | Wolf class |
| Built | 1740-1741 |
| In commission | 1741-1756 |
| Completed | 3 |
| Lost | 2 |
| General characteristics (common design) | |
| Type | Sloop-of-war |
| Tons burthen | 201 66⁄94 bm |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 23 ft 6 in (7.2 m) |
| Depth of hold | 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) (vessels without platform in hold) |
| Sail plan | Snow |
| Complement | 80 (100 from 1744) |
| Armament |
|
The Drake class was a class of three sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy during 1741. All were ordered in 1740, and were the first to be built by contract with commercial builders, although they were to a common design prepared by Jacob Acworth, the Surveyor of the Navy. They were the first new sloops to be built since the previous batch of eight in 1732 (which had all been built in the Royal Dockyards), but they closely followed the characteristics of their predecessors.
Although initially armed with eight 4-pounder guns, this class was built with seven pairs of gunports on the upper deck (each port flanked by two pairs of row-ports), and the two survivors in 1744 had their ordnance increased to ten guns.