HMS Drake (1779)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
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| Name: | HMS Drake |
| Builder: | Henry Ladd, Dover |
| Launched: | May 1779 |
| Fate: | Condemned as unfit for service in September 1800 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | brig-sloop |
| Tons burthen: | 220 73⁄94 bm |
| Length: |
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| 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 x 4-pounder guns (replaced by 6-pounders by 1783) + 12 x ½-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.
Drake was built by Henry Ladd, of Dover and purchased while on the stocks as a cutter in March 1779. She was registered and established as a sloop on 19 March 1779, and launched in May that year, having commissioned in March under Commander William Brown. After being launched she was sailed to Deptford where she was fitted and coppered between 22 May and 19 July 1779 for the sum of £1,797 17s 6d.
Drake was initially assigned to Admiral Sir Charles Hardy's fleet during the invasion crisis in 1779, and after the crisis had passed, went out to the Leeward Islands in February 1780. Commander Richard Curgenven succeeded Brown in April 1781, and in December that year command passed to Commander Charles Dixon.
Dixon took Drake back to England, where she was refitted between April and June 1782 for the sum of £1,595 5s 4d. She then returned to the West Indies.
In early March 1783, Captain James King of the frigate Resistance fell in with the frigates Albemarle (under the command of Captain Horatio Nelson) and Tartar, and the brigs Drake and Barrington (or Admiral Barrington). From here on accounts diverge.
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