HMS Drake (1779)

History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Drake
Builder	Henry Ladd, Dover
Launched	May 1779
Fate	Condemned as unfit for service in September 1800
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	brig-sloop
Tons burthen	22073⁄94 bm
Length	78 ft 10+1⁄2 in (24.0 m) (overall) 59 ft 8 in (18.2 m) (keel)
Beam	26 ft 4+1⁄2 in (8.0 m)
Depth of hold	10 ft 9+1⁄2 in (3.3 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Two masted square rigged with a spanker on the main mast
Complement	80
Armament	14 × 4-pounder guns (replaced by 6-pounders by 1783) + 12 × 1⁄2-pounder swivel guns

HMS Drake was a 14-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was bought from a commercial builder during the early years of the American War of Independence, and went on to support operations in the English Channel and the Caribbean. At one stage she assisted an attack on a French-held island, an expedition commanded by a young Horatio Nelson. Laid up for a time after the end of the American War of Independence, she returned to service shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. Drake spent most of her time in Caribbean waters, until being declared unfit for service in 1800 and deleted from the navy lists.