HMS ''Laurel'' was a 28-gun ''Enterprise''-class

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. ''Laurel'' was first commissioned in October 1779 under the command of Captain Thomas Lloyd. She sailed for the Leeward Islands on 13 April 1780, but was wrecked on 11 October in the

Great Hurricane of 1780 The Great Hurricane of 1780 was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. An estimated 22,000 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through the islands from October 10 to October 16. Specifics on the hurricane's tr ...

at Martinique. Lloyd, and all but 12 of his crew, died.Lloyd's List
'' №1228''.
/ref>

Citations

References

* Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. . * Hepper, David J. (1994) ''British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859''. (Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot). * David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. . * 1779 ships Sixth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea Maritime incidents in 1780 {{UK-mil-ship-stub